MK Dons climb up the Academy League table was halted on Saturday as their four-match unbeaten run was ended by a 3-1 defeat at home to league leaders Leicester City.
The game was played in windy conditions at Woughton-on-the Green, and both sides enjoyed good early spells, with the Dons shading the opening encounters.
The Dons had four or five set plays in the opening 20 minutes with some spells of sustained pressure, but were frustrated by some solid defensive work from the Foxes.
And they fell behind on 22 minutes in bizarre circumstances. The referee had pulled up play to give a free-kick to the Dons. And with them setting up for the kick, he then decided to change his decision and award it to the visitors, leaving confusion as a quick kick was taken to put Leicester ahead.
The Dons levelled on the stroke of half-time when a left flank free-kick from Ross Morley was delivered to the far post for Kieron Murphy to head home.
The opening stage of the second period was fairly even, but Leicester edged ahead again on the hour mark with a good finish from the striker just inside the penalty area.
And on 75 minutes they grabbed a third, a long ball over the top seeing Leicester beat the offside trap before a finish lobbed over the head of Ryan Flood.
The Dons then saw midfielder Adam Moriarty leave the action with a broken leg, and went so close to a second with seven minutes remaining when Jamie England's corner was headed against the post by Sam Page.
Team: Flood, Howe, Collins, Page, Murphy, Moriarty (McCormick), Battams (Lovegrove), Morley, Day, England, Baldock. Not used: Webb.