Euell excited by his Wimbledon return (From Your Local Guardian)

Euell excited by his Wimbledon return

1:00pm Friday 13th January 2012 in AFC Wimbledon By Graham Moody

Jason Euell cannot wait to get started after rejoining AFC Wimbledon.

Euell sparked jubilation among Dons fans on Tuesday when he signed a five-week loan deal from Charlton Athletic, rejoining the club he began his career at as an 18-year-old in 1995 and made 177 appearances for.

And the 34-year-old, who makes his second Dons debut at Port Vale tomorrow more than 16 years after scoring on his first, is excited to be back.

“It is one of these full circle events – back then it was exciting and it’s even more exciting now,” said the 34-year-old.

“I have always kept an eye on Wimbledon – it was always going to be a club close to my heart.

“It’s the fans you remember and for what they have done from where they started to get to where they are now has just been unreal and for me to be a part of that is going to be even more special.

“I went to Kingsmeadow when it was their launch when they first started but it has been difficult to get down again with my playing commitments and where I was in the country.

“I have always kept a close eye on their rise though and it didn’t take much persuasion to get me down here.

“From when I first spoke to Terry at the beginning of the season and then the other day, he has always said there will be no change in what they want to do – they want to play football the right way.”

And Euell, who played in the Premier League for Blackpool last season, admitted he has been bowled over by the outpouring of emotion since the move became public.

“It has been crazy,” he added.

“I was doing a signing session for Charlton’s Football in the Community programme and turned my phone off for a bit.

“When I turned it back on there were untold amount of messages on Facebook, Twitter, BBM and my answer phone and I was trending on Twitter.

“From when the Scholes and Henry things broke, a lot of Charlton fans were saying they followed in my footsteps after I returned to Charlton in the summer.

“But then, 48 hours later, I was going to Wimbledon and their fans were saying the same thing.”

It will be a fleeting appearance from Euell though, who is adamant he will return to the Addicks to help them with their title push.

“It is just about going out on loan and then going back for the title push - that’s what Chris said to me and I pretty much said to him at the same time.

“I would rather get some games under my belt and be ready.“ News of Euell’s return was followed up just three hours later by the signing of former Carshalton Athletic striker Byron Harrison for a record fee - breaking the £25,000 paid for Jon Main in 2007.

In a busy week for the Dons, Callum McNaughton’s loan from West Ham was made permanent while teenage midfielders George Moncur and Billy Knott joined on loan from the Hammers and Sunderland as the club bids to end a run of 12 games without a win in League Two.