AFC Wimbledon have signed a new goalkeeper ahead of tonight's home match against Burton Albion with the arrival of Joe Day from Cardiff City.
Joe joins us on loan for the rest of this season and international clearance has been received in time for the 29-year-old keeper to be included in Wimbledon's squad for tonight's game.
Before signing for Cardiff last summer, Joe made himself a favourite at Newport County, playing a big part in an FA Cup run last season that earned national headlines. After knocking out Middlesbrough and Leicester City, County bowed out to Manchester City. Joe also helped County to reach Wembley last May, where they were beaten 1-0 in the League 2 play-off final. Following such a great campaign, Joe was awarded the Sky Bet League Two goalkeeper of the season.
Glyn Hodges believes that Joe's experience will be a big asset during the rest of this season.
“Joe is an experienced goalkeeper, who has played over 200 games for Newport," said Glyn. "He moved from Newport to Cardiff and has been around the first-team squad, so we are lucky to get him. At one stage it looked like he wasn’t coming, that’s why these things take time, but he has signed for us and we are looking forward to having his experience during the business end of the season.
“Joe has got size, he has got presence, and experience. I know it’s great putting the young lads in and having a young side, but you still need to have a sprinkling of a bit more nous, a bit more know-how. I am sure he will bring that. If you look at the spine of the team it has been quite young, but straight away this strengthens it in that position.
"It’s a fit for us, and we all need help. He’s there to give the boys help and it’s just about getting that bond between the defenders and the goalkeeper, so that we become tight. We’ve not kept as many clean sheets as I would have liked. We got one in the last game and that was terrific as it was against a prolific Peterborough front-line, so we just need to get a few more in terms of moving forward.”
Joe, who was born in Brighton and started his career with Crystal Palace, made 34 appearances for Rushden & Diamonds between 2007 and 2011, before switching to Peterborough United for four years. Following a loan spell at Alfreton Town, Joe joined Newport County in the summer of 2014, initially on loan, before signing permanently on 1 January 2015. He went onto make 243 appearances for the South Wales club, before joining Cardiff City, where he’s made two first-team appearances.
Take a look below at Glyn's interview about signing Joe for Wimbledon.