FORMER Millwall club skipper Alex Pearce said boss Johnnie Jackson was the main “pull” in his move to AFC Wimbledon.
Pearce, 33, is Jackson’s first signing of the summer for the Dons, who were relegated to League Two last season.
Pearce wasn’t offered a new deal by Millwall this summer. The ex-Republic of Ireland international centre-back joined the Lions on loan from Derby County in January 2019 before completing a permanent transfer the following summer.
Pearce played 81 times for Millwall and scored one goal, in the 2-2 draw with Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-final at The Den in 2019 that the Lions lost on penalties.
Jackson left Charlton Athletic in the summer after the Addicks finished 13th in League One.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” Pearce said on the Dons’ official media channels. “As soon as I got in contact with the manager it moved pretty quickly. We met each other, things moved pretty quickly and I’m really pleased to get it done fairly early into the summer window so that I can rest and relax and enjoy the rest of my summer and get ready for the season.
“As soon as I met the manager I loved what he was saying, what he was about. That was the main pull, really, the ambition that he showed me in terms of getting this club back to where it needs to be, back to where it should be.
“The standards he wants to set, that’s right up my street as well because I like to set my own standards in what I do.
“We’re just aligned on a lot of things and hopefully we can all pull together and do the business for this club.
“[Jackson] wants me to come in and be the player that I am, really, I suppose, he’s not asking me to do anything I wouldn’t already do, wouldn’t already know. He wants me to come in and be a big part of it and stamp my own presence on it, stamp my own authority on the football club.
“Hopefully it all pushes in the right direction and that’s what I’m here to do as well.
“I’m a team player and I want to help this football club get back on the right track.”
Image: Millwall FC