"Good to get off the mark": Paterson on a fruitful debut as Dons beat Barrow

First starts for a new club do not come much better than Callum Paterson’s full debut for MK Dons on Saturday as they beat Barrow 2-0 at Holker Street.

The only change from last week’s 0-0 draw with Oldham Athletic, the Scot came into the side ahead of Aaron Collins, missing with an arm injury sustained against the Latics, and not only turned provider for Alex Gilbey to crash home the opener on 73 minutes but then netted his first goal for the club eight minutes later.

It meant Dons went home from Cumbria with four points to their name from a possible six, sat sixth in League Two at this early stage, and still yet to concede a goal under Paul Warne’s watch.

Speaking afterwards, Paterson somewhat humbly admitted he felt lucky to be getting a start, given how much of pre-season he had missed having left Sheffield Wednesday in the summer, so to come away with the haul he did from the game made for a happy man.

“It was nice to get a start, first of all, because I haven’t had as much of a pre-season as the rest of the lads,” he said. “They’ve been gelling as a team throughout the summer so for a new guy to come in and get a start is difficult but with Aaron’s injury last week, it’s made way for me and thankfully I’ve stepped up with a goal and an assist.

“It’s good to get off the mark with a win. I know the boys have come here before and had a tough time, and thankfully we’ve put that behind us now so we can all move forward.

“It was an erratic game, 100mph, balls in the air, in the channels, and we knew it would take a moment of quality so Alex finding the net was just what we needed.”