DEFENDER ENDS LOAN SPELL

Versatile wide man to move on

Former Cardiff City defender Jonathan Meades has left United following a three-week trial spell which has seen him put in some impressive performances on both the left and right hand side of the back four.

Speaking about the decision today, manager Greg Abbott said: "We've had to let Jonny move on and it wasn't an easy decision to come to at all.

"We've kept him with us for this long quite simply because he's done really well. The real asset he has is that he can play on the right or the left with no problem at all, and there aren't too many people who can do that effectively.

"We had to look closely at what we wanted to do with him but we felt the emergence of Brad Potts as cover at right back has been a real bonus. The performances of Alessio [Bugno] on the other side means we need a longer look at him and it left us with this massive decision to make."

"We've already spoken to other clubs on his behalf and we've been honest by admitting that we were really close to trying to sort something out with him," he continued.

"He's been unlucky because other players have started to come through at the same time as he has joined up with us. If circumstances had been different then we might well have been saying something else this afternoon because this has been an incredibly tough decision to make."

"We have to take a lot of factors into consideration," he said. "It wouldn't be fair to him at his age to bring him up from Cardiff just to be a squad player. He needs to be playing regularly and we couldn't guarantee that at this moment in time. He's a great lad and he's one we took to from day one, and we genuinely wish him all the very best."

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