NEW DON KIERAN’S A DELIGHT FOR KARL
A double on debut for Agard
KIERAN Agard made an emphatic start to his MK Dons career, scoring twice on his debut before coming off to a standing ovation inside Stadium MK – but his boss Karl Robinson insists the best is still yet to come from the player.
The 26-year-old – who only arrived on Thursday for an undisclosed club record transfer fee from Bristol City – salvaged a point for MK who were 2-0 after just 27 minutes through an Ed Upson own goal and then David Worrall’s strike.
But just six minutes later, Agard had found the net twice with two emphatic goals and he left the pitch midway through the second period to a hero’s departure.
“In the first half I thought we were by far the better team,” said Robinson.
“Although we suffered a sucker blow with those two goals I thought we got back into our stride very quickly.
“They were the favourites to win this game and they are the second favourites to win the league, but we’re going to get better because we’ve still got six players to come back from injury and a couple of new signings too.
“Results in this part of the season are imperative, but I will judge my team in a few weeks when I’ve got everything I want in place.
“Kieran’s explosive, he’s brave and he’s a goalscorer. We know he’s a threat and he’s only going to get better and better for us.”
Both sides started conservatively during the early exchanges but it was the visitors – through veteran forward Steve Morison – who recorded the first shot on target inside the opening ten minutes, forcing MK goalkeeper David Martin into an early save.
But it was Neil Harris’ side who made their early first-half pressure pay as they struck twice in quick succession to go two in front.
The first came through former Millwall man Upson’s own goal which somehow bundled its way into the home side’s net from a corner, before Worrall met Aidan O’Brien’s inviting cross at the back post to smash the visitors into what appeared to be a comfortable lead heading into the break.
But Agard’s reply came just a minute later, as the Lions defence failed to clear their lines and the Dons’ biggest signing’s left-footed strike from the edge of the box found the bottom corner of the net.
And the home fans didn’t have long to wait to cheer the 26-yearold’s second, which was a well-taken headed lob over Millwall keeper Jordan Archer in a one-on-one.
Millwall’s Lee Gregory saw a chance cleared off the line early in the second half.
But neither side could find a winning goal – and both the Lions and the Dons continue their unbeaten start to the league season. I thought we were a bit sluggish in the first half, especially at the start,” said the typically honest Millwall manager Neil Harris.
“But when we went 2-0 up I thought we were looking comfortable at that stage in the game to be honest.
“And then we had that spell where we conceded two goals in short space of time and we had a little bit of wobble then.
“But I got the boys in at half-time and said in the second half we needed to be a lot more aggressive in our approach – and overall I was really happy with the second half performance. They came down last year from a really tough division but they’ve still got a lot of quality in their team and Karl Robinson has recruited well.
“We knew it was a difficult challenge because they’ve got real attacking flair and I’d imagine they’ll be up there in the top six come the end of the season.”