Inconsistent Dons defeated at Plymouth

MK Dons head into Christmas off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on Saturday.

In a game low on quality, Dons were unable to repeat the performance of midweek against Peterborough in Devon and barely carved a chance as Ryan Hardie's strike 22 minutes from time ended Plymouth's six-game losing streak.

The result sees Dons drop to 17th in the table.

With Warren O'Hora taking compassionate leave, Russell Martin made just one change to the side which started against Peterborough on Tuesday night, bringing in Regan Poole at right wing-back with George Williams shifting into the centre of defence alongside Richard Keogh and Dean Lewington.

Unlike on Tuesday night though, Dons were unable to get a foothold in the game in the opening 45 minutes. Loose passes and first touches were their main source of undoing, though Argyle struggled to force anything meaningful from keeper Andrew Fisher.

Danny Mayor and Joe Edwards were lively for the home side and won a lot of balls in dangerous spots as both Lewington and David Kasumu looked off-colour in the opening 45 minutes, but a Ryan Hardie header over the bar was as close as they would come.

At the other end, the final ball was letting Dons down as Carlton Morris and Cameron Jerome struggled to see much of the ball, with their best chance of the half falling to Poole in stoppage time but he was unable to find the target.

The second half threatened to be a different story though, with Dons starting brightly and appearing to put behind them their mistakes of the first period, but aside from an Andrew Surman strike – on at half time for Lasse Sorensen – they didn't create a clear chance on goal.

As Plymouth adapted, they began to get back on top of things and after Luke Jephcott missed a great chance, Hardie fired in Edwards' cross with 22 minutes to go to put the home side in front.

From there, Dons were simply unable to get back into it. Jephcott had another great chance to put the game to bed but Fisher got a toe to it to put his effort into the side netting, but Hardie's strike was enough to secure their first win since early November, and dropping Dons back to 17th in the table.

Referee: Paul Howard

Plymouth Argyle: Cooper, Watts, Aimson, Canavan, Edwards, Hardie (Nouble 85), Mayor, Grant, Macleod (Reeves 89), Camara (Fornah 83), Jephcott (Telford 89)

Subs not used: McCormick, Wootton,Moore

MK Dons: Fisher, Williams (Walker 82), Lewington, Keogh, Poole (Gladwin 73), Sorinola (Cargill 75), Kasumu, Sorensen (Surman 46) Fraser, Jerome (Mason 75), Morris

Subs not used: Nicholls, Freeman

Booked: Keogh, Sorensen