Egan’s strike means there is no Silva lining

MARCO SILVA endured a difficult start to life as Watford manager with a 3-2 defeat to League One club AFC Wimbledon.

Although they were without summer additions Nathaniel Chalobah and Will Hughes, Silva (below) still named a strong team at Kingsmeadow, but they were flattened by Alfie Egan’s 89th-minute strike.

The hosts had earned a two-goal cushion when Cody McDonald netted twice within four second-half minutes.

But Ben Watson and Steven Berghuis looked to have rescued some pride for the Premier League outfit. That was until Egan, 19, scored his first senior goal to secure the Football Manager Cup.

John Terry also had an unhappy first outing as Aston Villa lost 2-1 at Shrewsbury Town.

Henri Lansbury’s stoppage-time spot-kick proved mere consolation after two goals in the final 22 minutes from debutants Zak Jules and Arthur Gnahoua.

But new Preston North End boss Alex Neil managed to find the winning formula with a 2-1 triumph over Stockport.

Despite conceding an early opener, Callum Robinson and Tom Barkhuizen got on the scoresheet for North End.

Derby County cruised to victory thanks to goals from Bradley Johnson and Mason Bennett, giving them a 2-0 win against Macclesfield. Lucas Joao found the net with six minutes to go for Sheffield Wednesday to see off Mansfield 3-2 after the Stags had twice levelled. Elsewhere, Nouha Dicko and Matt Doherty steered Wolves to a 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen, while three goals in the final five minutes saw QPR overturn a 2-1 deficit to scrape past Peterborough 4-2.

Meanwhile, Jordon Mutch’s double helped Crystal Palace ease past Maidstone 3-1, but Southampton finished goalless with St Gallen.