Darren Bent proves his worth as Derby County floor MK Dons with late double

Darren Bent’s career has risked falling into obscurity in recent seasons but the former England striker still knows where the net is. The 31-year-old has been frustrated since joining Derby permanently in the summer, a place on Paul Clement’s bench the norm and goals conspicious by their absence. But he entered the pitch 11 minutes from the end here and by full-time he had made the kind of contribution that has borne his hallmark over the years, giving Derby a decisive lead after Bradley Johnson’s goal had been cancelled out by MK Dons’ Josh Murphy. Tom Ince’s late third goal was icing on the cake, if hard on a lively home team.

A circumspect start to 2015-16 need not have been bad for Derby, whose meltdown late last season under Steve McClaren suggested a need to return to the basics. Eleven points from eight games had given Clement, appointed in June, a platform but Derby’s spend on transfer fees since his arrival has exceeded £20m and results are expected. Holding player George Thorne joined longer-term absentees Will Hughes and Craig Bryson here, but Clement could still call upon two midfielders – Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson – who were signed this summer for a combined £10.5m.

It was therefore no surprise to see Karl Robinson refer to his MK Dons side as “massive underdogs” in the programme, although it was not a tag they had worn well three days previously when losing 6-0 at home to Southampton in the Capital One Cup. That was their fifth consecutive defeat, a promising start to life in the Championship having stalled, but Robinson has been allowed reinforcements and he gave a debut to Jake Forster-Caskey, the England Under-21 midfielder who has signed on loan from Brighton.