ON-FIRE AGARD NICKS A POINT
MK DONS’ draw with high-flying Bolton extended their unbeaten run in the league to five games and Robbie Neilson says it shows just how far the club have come since he took charge in December.
Neilson said it would take time to stamp his mark on the club following his arrival from Hearts late last year, but this was an encouraging display to give reasons for optimism.
Kieran Agard rescued a point for MK with his third goal in as many games to cancel out Jay Spearing’s opener seconds before half-time, which was the midfielder’s first goal since August.
And despite a 20-minute bombardment of the Bolton goal at the end of the second half, Neilson’s men had to settle for a draw against a Wanderers side now seven points adrift of second place.
“We didn’t create a lot of clear chances but we did get into really good areas for the last 30 minutes,” said Neilson.
“They’re a good team with a lot of experienced players so, although I think we could have won the game and that’s a disappointment, I’m still really pleased because it shows how far we’ve come.
“I think we had a lot of the play and although we didn’t win the game, which is what I thought we deserved, we can use the positives from this to go onto Tuesday and try and get three points there.”
Neither side could get a foothold in the opening exchanges, but it was the visitors who were the first to really threaten.
Filipe Morais swung in an inviting cross for Chris Long, whose delicate header just skimmed wide.
Despite the evenly-balanced match, Phil Parkinson’s side took the lead seconds before the break.
Spearing’s free-kick from the left flew untouched past the bodies of a flooded MK penalty area and keeper David Martin before nestling in the bottom corner of the home side’s goal.
But the Dons drew themselves level 15 minutes after the half-time break. Agard’s emphatic strike from the edge of the box flew past Ben Alnwick in the Bolton goal and into the bottom corner for his 11th goal of the campaign and his third in as many games.
“Going into the game we knew a lot of our boys were feeling a bit undercooked because they haven’t been playing a lot of matches,” admitted a deflated Parkinson.
“But every one of the lads put in a real honest performance on a difficult day and I’m delighted to come away with a point to be honest.
“We are looking forward to working with the new boys we’ve got over the next few weeks.
“All the lads put in a real shift but it is going to take a lot of the new lads a little while to get to grips with things.
“I’m sure all of the new guys have what it takes to play for Bolton though.”