League Two: MK Dons 0-0 Oldham Athletic

MK Dons would open their account for the new season with a goal-less draw against Oldham Athletic on Saturday.

In a game of few chances, Aaron Collins was denied a first-half penalty but there was not much else in the way of goal-scoring opportunities.

Of his five competitive games in charge, head coach Paul Warne has overseen four 0-0 draws.

For his first league game of the season, Paul Warne went with the team which many would have predicted, featuring four of the seven new signings of the summer. Gethin Jones, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Russian Hepburn-Murphy and Aaron Collins were all handed their full debuts, while Will Collar and Callum Paterson were amongst the substitutes.

The bubbling atmosphere built in the lead up to kick-off, with plenty making the journey from Boundary Park for Oldham’s first EFL game in three years, though the first-half did not quite match the off-field excitement.

Hepburn-Murphy was Dons’ leading outlet, twice getting in behind to break clear only to be denied by the recovering Latics defence, while Kane Drummond fired wide for the visitors early on.

As the half wore on, Dons tightened the screw and looked the more likely, if any, to open the scoring but Kane Thompson-Sommers fired over the bar, and Aaron Collins thought he had won a penalty when he was bundled over just before the break, but referee Matthew Russell instead pointed for a corner.

The second-half followed a similar pattern as the first, with Dons looking the more likely to open the scoring, while holding firm at the other end. Shots and chances remained at a premium though, with Thompson-Sommers again stabbing harmlessly wide, while Collins and Mendez-Laing put in tempting crosses but could not pick out a target.

New signing Callum Paterson came on on the hour and immediately created a nuisance of himself, winning a corner at one end before chasing the length of the field to deny a chance at the other as Oldham shaped to break.

On the whole though, neither side deserved to come away from the game with the points nor on the losing end of the result.

Referee: Matthew Russell

Attendance: 9,384 (1,891)

MK Dons: MacGillivray, Offord, Sanders, Tomlinson, Jones, Gilbey, Kelly, Thompson-Sommers (Paterson 60), Mendez-Laing (Collar 86), Hepburn-Murphy (Leko 73), Collins

Subs not used: Trueman, Nemane, Lemonheigh-Evans, Waller

Oldham Athletic: Hudson, Ogle, Leake (Hammond 84), Daniels, Monthe, Woods, Fondop, Conlon, Stevens (Hannant 68), Drummond, Morris (Hawkes 59)

Subs not used: Donaghy, Sutton, Harratt, Waters

Booked: Sanders, Conlon, Fondop