FIRST half strikes from Kieran Agard and Ryan Harley – the first from the penalty spot – were enough to give MK Dons all three points as Latics’ League Two campaign got off to a losing start.

A Dan Gardner thunderbolt five minutes before half time gave the home side hope but, in truth, they lacked that crucial guile going forward and struggled to create chances.

No fewer than seven debutants started Athletic’s first game in fourth-tier football for 47 years but it was the surprise absence of captain Peter Clarke through injury which provided the major talking point before kick-off.

With fellow defenders Andy Taylor and Cameron Dummigan now also confirmed as being on the crocked list, Frankie Bunn’s back four was certainly a youthful one.

And they were on the backfoot after only eight minutes when referee Neil Hair awarded the visitors a penalty. There were no arguments as Giles Coke brought down George Williams in the box. Agard made no mistake from the spot. Worse was to come less than a quarter-of-an-hour later when Agard’s cross found Harley to slot home.

Athletic were badly missing Clarke’s leadership qualities at the back.

And with Paul Tisdale’s men sniffing exactly that, it in turn led to panic from the home rearguard every time Milton Keynes poured forward.

Gardner made Bunn’s first half-time team talk slightly easier five minutes before the break when he struck a sweet shot past Lee Nicholls in the Dons’ goal to halve the deficit.

Latics were at last beginning to settle.

Having said that, Iversen kept the hosts in it with the second half barely two minutes old as he denied Connor McGrandles with his feet. The midfielder was clean through.

If that was a let-off and a warning sign for Athletic to get on the front foot, they never really responded.

In an attacking sense, Bunn’s men – without the x-factor of a Jose Baxter or a Jack Byrne – Athletic looked one-dimensional.

What of the new men then?

Ishmael Miller was making a nuisance of himself as you’d expect from the battering ram frontman. He’s a big unit alright.

Christopher Missilou covered some distance in midfield – he has something of the Duracell bunny about him – and Johan Branger-Engone impressed on the left of midfield, later switching to the right when Nepomuceno was introduced from the bench.

Centre-back Sam Graham will get better with experience alongside, Sam Surridge toiled manfully without much success and Giles Coke’s first-half performance lacked fizz. Iversen kept Athletic in the game with a smart stop with his feet at the start of the second half and was close to saving Agard’s spot kick, diving the right way.

LATICS (4-4-2): Iversen, Hamer, Hunt, Graham, Edmundson; Gardner, Coke (Nepomuceno 46), Missilou (Maouche 80), Branger-Engone; Miller (O’Grady 58), Surridge. Subs: De La Paz, Benteke, Stott, Maouche, Sheridan.

Booked: Missilou 71.

MK DONS: Nicholls, Williams, Lewington, Gilbey (Walsh 66), Pawlett (Simpson 16, Cisse 86), Agard, Moore-Taylor, McGrandles (inj 90), Houghton, Brittain, Harley. Subs: Watson, Aneke, Hancox, Sietsma.

Booked: Walsh 69.

Referee: Neil Hair.