Johnnie Jackson has thanked departing AFC Wimbledon midfielder Alex Woodyard following his recent switch to York City.
Midfielder Woodyard represented the Dons 123 times as well as captaining the side during his three-year spell in south London.
However, the 30-year-old last week had his contract cancelled by mutual consent, enabling him to pen a two-year deal with non-league York.
Jackson admitted to afcwimbledon.co.uk: “It was a bittersweet moment. I’m very fond of Woody.
“He’s been a great servant to the football club, he’s been here a long time and played a lot of games.
“I spoke to him early in the summer about wanting to freshen things up in order to take us in a new direction and he understood that.
“He’s been the ultimate professional during pre-season even though he probably thought that he’d end up moving on. He leaves us with all of our best wishes.”
Wimbledon signed off pre-season undefeated on Saturday with a 2-0 success at Wealdstone courtesy of goals from Omar Bugiel and Ali Al-Hamadi.
That strike got Bugiel off the mark for the Dons following his summer arrival from rivals Sutton United and his new boss is more than happy with what the former Lebanese international striker has produced so far.
Jackson said: “He’s settled in really well. He was an early deal that we got done.
“He’s someone I know very well from when we played against him in this league.
“We did our homework on what type of character he is and he hasn’t disappointed.”
The boss also believes Bugiel will add an extra dimension to Wimbledon’s attacking options in League Two this season, which kicks off at Grimsby this Saturday.
Jackson added: “We’ve also got threats at the top end of the pitch, as we’ve seen today, we scored two different types of goals.
“That first goal all came from Omar’s strength, it’s what he likes.
“Then you’ve got Josh Davison and Ali Al-Hamadi, who like to play on the shoulder.
“We’ve got the variety which allows us to do different things. We’re as ready as we can be.
“The six weeks have flown by.
“We’re excited by the direction of travel.
“The real stuff starts next week.
“We head up to Grimsby in a lot better shape than when we finished there last season.”
