Oldham boss Micky Mellon was pleased his team kept out MK Dons in an opening day draw in League Two.
The two sides could only conjure one shot on target between them as they settled for a point apiece at Stadium MK.
The single effort on target came late on, with Oldham’s Mike Fondop denied by Craig MacGillivray in the MK Dons goal, in a match that also saw both sides have penalty appeals denied.
Mellon was content his team showed the qualities he was looking for as the Latics got a point in their first EFL game in three years.
“I said that I would learn an awful lot from the performance today, which I always do,” he said.
“I learned we will dig in, fight and scrap, and will be a threat.
“We’ll get better as the season goes on, we get fitter and maybe get some of the injured players back in, but the players who turned out today were a credit for what we’re trying to do here. But we want to keep pushing forward and win games of football.
“We looked a right good threat when we strung a couple of passes together, fought our corner, and are pleased we got something from the game. Going into this, we knew it would be difficult and we’ll move on now.
“We showed the qualities that were needed today that I expected of them. We said before the game that we’re not here just to take part, and that’s not what Oldham’s about. They kept their word on that.”
MK Dons boss Paul Warne said he felt his side’s work in the final third held them back.
He said: “I thought we were good without being great. I think the lads agree. Just in the final third, I didn’t think we’d done enough to make the keeper earn his money and that’s the truth.
“Transporting the ball end-to-end, I thought we were OK, we were competitive, we defended all the long throws, and when they broke, our recovery runs were good. So I like that. There was parts of our play I liked, it just missed the goal.
“The longer the game goes on and you don’t get the goal, it gets more edgy, and in the last 10 to 15 minutes, it was more stop and start.
“If you win the first five games, you haven’t got it sussed, and if you lose the first five games, you’re not horrific but you do get to see where the problems are. Today, Oldham caused us problems and stopped our attacks. It’s just constant learning.
“After a few games, you have a much better idea.”
