Russell Martin's search for a first win goes on despite Leicester City's dominant display

Russell Martin is still waiting for his first league win as Leicester City manager after his side were held to a goalless draw by MK Dons despite completely dominating the game. The gap between performance and results is becoming the defining story of his opening weeks at the King Power Stadium.

Three games into the League One season, Leicester remain winless, and today's 0-0 draw at Stadium MK will sting more than most given the numbers behind it. Leicester finished the match with 24 shots to MK Dons' four, and a 1.53 expected goals tally against the hosts' 0.57, yet somehow left with only a point.

The numbers behind Leicester's frustrating start under Martin

Martin's message throughout his short tenure has centred on performance levels rather than results, and after today's game there's plenty of evidence to support that framing, even if it won't ease the growing pressure. The underlying data from Leicester's opening three matches paints a picture of a team playing well above where the table currently has them.

• Shots today: 24 attempts against MK Dons' four, a near six-to-one ratio that rarely fails to produce a win.
• Expected goals: 1.53 xG for Leicester compared to 0.57 for MK Dons, one of the widest gaps of any League One fixture so far this season.
• Results so far: A draw at Notts County, a home defeat to Burton Albion, and now a draw at MK Dons, leaving Leicester still without a win.
• Woodwork moments: Both Jayden Joseph and Sammy Braybrooke struck the frame of the goal during the game, underlining how close Leicester came to breaking the deadlock.

Why Martin's approach is being tested so early

It's a scenario Martin will recognise from his time at Southampton, where patience with his methods eventually produced a club-record unbeaten run and promotion to the Premier League. The concern for Leicester supporters is that his brief spell at Rangers showed those methods don't always have time to bed in before pressure builds, and a club with Leicester's expectations and recently sold-out season tickets is unlikely to offer the same runway other jobs might. Martin himself has previously pointed to a lack of a proven goalscorer as part of the issue, with suggestions that Leicester need a striker capable of finishing the chances his system is clearly creating before Tuesday's transfer deadline passes.

What today's performance means for the weeks ahead

If Leicester's underlying numbers continue at this level, it's difficult to imagine results not turning around eventually, and there were passages of play against MK Dons that will have given Martin genuine encouragement despite the frustrating outcome. The bigger question is whether the club's hierarchy and supporters share his patience, particularly with League One proving considerably more competitive than many expected before the season started. Martin has built promotion-winning sides before, and nothing about today's performance suggests his ideas aren't working. It's simply a matter of whether Leicester can find the composure in front of goal to turn dominant afternoons into three points before patience runs out.

The road ahead for Russell Martin at Leicester City

With a squad still being reshaped and a manager who has previously proven he can get teams promoted once his methods take hold, Leicester City supporters will be hoping today's performance marks a turning point rather than more of the same. The next few fixtures, including any late business done before the transfer window closes, could go a long way toward determining whether this becomes a promotion campaign or a longer rebuilding project than anyone at the King Power Stadium anticipated.