AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley has been rewarded for his patience after signing striker Lyle Taylor from Scunthorpe United.

The club announced the new recruit today (Tuesday), but Ardley says he knew in May that Taylor was a perfect fit.

Taylor, 25, has plied his trade with eight clubs since starting out at Millwall as a trainee in 2007.

Since then, he has turned out for Bournemouth, Hereford and Partick - however, his peak came with Falkirk when he hit 24 goals in 34 game to earn a £220,000 move to Sheffield United.

Ardley told Dons Player: “We needed to do great work behind the scenes, in particular from our chief executive Erik Samuelson, who was fantastic, to get this deal done.

"When I sat down with Simon Bassey in May to discuss what we wanted, both Lyle and Tom Elliott fitted the criteria we were looking for.

"They were first choices in terms of the strikers we were trying to bring in. There were times when I felt we were not going to get either of them, but we have shown a lot of patience."

He added: “A lot of people in June were asking where all the signings were, but I think it is so important to stick with what you initially want until it is dead in the water.

"I am excited by what they can both do. When we profiled the categories we wanted to put into the team, we wanted more pace and power up front and these two will tick those boxes."

Read more at http://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/article/neal-signs-top-target-2546229.aspx#F70G2uIFDQM4V7uB.99