By Rob Cornell
New signing Lloyd Sam has unfinished business with AFC Wimbledon after revealing that he spent a year with the Dons as a teenager.
The experienced winger, who increased his match fitness with an outing for our development squad yesterday, is preparing to give everything in AFC Wimbledon's bid to maintain League One status, almost two decades since being on the books of Wimbledon FC.
"When I was a teenager I was signed with Wimbledon for a year," revealed Lloyd, in an interview with our premium iFollow Dons subscription channel.
"I was really on the books with the original Wimbledon! It's funny, because my Mum is always telling me, 'have you told anyone you were with Wimbledon?' I guess this is me telling you guys now! It was a long time ago, but it's nice to come back."
The winger has been playing in the United States of America for the past six years, first with New York Red Bulls and then with DC United.
"I was in America and I came back. I was having talks with a couple of teams out there and I was looking at some options in London too. It was put forward to me to come in and for AFC Wimbledon to have a look at me. I did and I'm glad to have signed a short-term deal.
"First and foremost, the manager wants me to get as fit as I possibly can in this short time. He hasn't really talked about a role for me, but I think I've just got to do what I actually do - which is to provide attacking creativity and get some chances and goals for the team.
"A few of the fans have reached out to me on social media and they've made me feel welcome. I haven't been to the stadium properly yet, so I'm looking forward to that."
Before his stint in America, Lloyd established himself in the game as a young player with South London rivals Charlton Athletic and he now finds himself sharing a dressing room with the Dons captain Barry Fuller again.
"I know Barry well from Charlton's Academy. I've also played with Tom Soares, I know Kwesi Appiah, and I've met Harry Forrester previously. There are probably a few others that I've forgotten, but I've been around!" added Lloyd, who has found it easy to bond with his new team-mates.
"We've been playing pretty well, since I've been here. There's been a win, a draw and the last game we lost to the top team in the league (Shrewsbury) 1-0. I think people know their roles and what it takes to keep us up and hopefully we can stay up.
"The next two games are huge. Whatever way we get those points, we need to get them. Everyone needs to be dialled in and hopefully we can pick them up."
The full interview with Lloyd Sam is available on our iFollow Dons video platform via the link above.