Neal: club worked 'incredibly hard" to keep striker
Neal Ardley has confirmed that Matt Tubbs will be recalled by AFC Bournemouth and the striker is likely to join another club during the January transfer window.
Neal said that the club had worked ‘incredibly hard’ to keep Matt, who has scored 14 goals in all competitions for AFC Wimbledon since joining on loan from the Cherries last summer.
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal Ardley said: “Bournemouth exercised their right to call Matt back from his loan and they have given us 48 hours’ notice. That will be the start of Matt sorting out his future and it’s more than likely that he will join another club.
“I would like to say that the effort our board and Mike Richardson has put in, firstly to get him here, and then to try and keep him, has been phenomenal. I spent most of my Christmas working on keeping Matt here.
“The club and Mike Richardson have been incredible throughout in trying to keep the player. Unfortunately, we’ve lost out, but we can be proud of the effort that we put in. We did not take it lightly and we threw everything at it in terms of trying to keep Matt.
“Matt has been an absolute credit with his work-rate, goals and effort since he’s been here and the club that gets him well be very lucky.
Neal urged supporters to be patient during his search for a replacement during the January transfer window.
“We’ve been trying to find a replacement for Matt by working throughout December, without knowing that we would lose him,” Neal added. “But there are complications to try and find the ideal replacement. There are a lot of players on the list and we are working hard on it. It will not be a short fix and we will need to work throughout January to achieve it. We’ve got a plan A, plan B and a plan C, but fans will need to bear with us.”
All at AFC Wimbledon wish to thank Matt Tubbs for his efforts in a Dons shirt.