Oldham victory shows Dons can win ugly, says Agard

The bruising encounter saw four Dons players hobble from the field, while Conor McGrandles suffered a facial fracture and had to be stretchered off in the 2-1 win at Boundary Park on Saturday.

Agard, who scored the opener and set up Ryan Harley for Dons' second, said it was their just rewards after a tough pre-season campaign.

"Obviously, after a tough pre-season it was great to come here and get the three points that we thoroughly deserved. We want to keep this momentum now, keep moving and not rest on our laurels and get back to business on Saturday.

"I think we showed that we can do both sides of the game. We can defend, we can be aggressive and we can get the ball down and play some football as well."

Stepping up in the ninth minute to convert from the spot, Agard then turned provider 11 minutes later as Harley doubled the lead for Paul Tisdale's side before Dan Gardner struck two minutes before half time, swinging momentum in Oldham's favour.

But despite their pressure in the second period, Agard was always confident Dons would hold on.

He said: "They put us under pressure but I think as a team we defended excellently and we weathered the storm to come away with the three points.

"I’m delighted that we got the penalty, it was great work from George. I’m always confident, as soon as there was a penalty I thought I could put it away so I grabbed the ball and thankfully it went in.

"I think it was well worked second goal down the right and then I put it across the box and Ryan was there to put it in."