AFC Wimbledon loanee Jake Jervis on life in South London, his Luton Town future and a dream debut against Fenerbache

AFC Wimbledon loanee Jake Jervis admits he is still open to a move abroad in the future – even if his last overseas switch ended up turning sour.

The 27-year-old signed for Elazigspor, then in the Turkish Super Lig, when he left Birmingham in January 2013 .

And Jervis could not have hoped for a better start as he scored just 11 minutes into his debut at Fenerbahce. But things were to go swiftly downhill.

“That first game was an eye-opener and probably the best atmosphere I have played in,” said Jervis.

“We had a mid-season break soon after and I broke my foot in a friendly and was out for 10 games or so.

“I came back in pre-season and was getting told I would get paid but I still hadn’t been, so I cancelled my contract before the end of the [2013 summer transfer] window. But the club didn’t put their forms through until after the deadline in England.

“It meant I couldn’t play football for a number of months and I hadn’t been paid for 11 months.

It was a difficult time. I had to start again. But it was still a great experience to go abroad and it’s something I wouldn’t turn down in the future – as long as I got paid!

“When we were driving to Fenerbache’s stadium the team coach was getting hit with all sorts. Our fans were in a tiny section in a corner, all you could hear were the whistles from the Fenerbahce fans.

“At other away games the decisions would go against home teams and the fans would be throwing chairs and bottles. It was definitely very different to England.

“My partner helped massively through that period [when he was effectively in limbo]. What made it worse is that there were three or four teams who wanted to sign me after I left Turkey.

So having that interest made it more frustrating, I had to go to the local park to train and keep myself fit for when it came to January.”

Jervis ended up signing for Portsmouth, who he comes up against tomorrow at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Coventry City and Sheffield United, he trained with the Blades as he was based in Derby, were also courting him.

Jervis has played for 13 clubs in his professional career – with six of those permanent moves. There is no disputing that his most productive time came at Plymouth, where he scored 31 times in 127 outings.

He made a return to Home Park on Saturday and saw a close-range shot saved by Matt Macey – Freddie Ladapo going on to head a 75th-minute winner for Argyle.

“It was on target and the keeper did well but in my eyes it is a bad miss,” said Jervis. “Nine times out of 10 I put them in the back of the net. Sometimes it is just the way it goes.

“It doesn’t happen that often like that but it was probably a turning point. For large spells we were in control. They had a chance after my one and that’s where they got a bit of confidence.

The goal came from us switching off, a small lapse of concentration.

“I enjoyed going back there. I thought I would get a good reception, but it was even better than expected – a standing ovation.

“It was a bit of a weird feeling to start off with. After the team line-ups on the pitch I always go over to the bench to take a drink and I started jogging to the wrong one!

As soon as the football starts you go into match mode.”

So why did it click with the Devon club, who he joined after leaving Ross County in the summer of 2015?

“I started that pre-season with a lot of goals and stayed in that form,” said Jervis, who netted 27 times in his two full campaigns at Home Park.

“You have that confidence from playing week in and week out.

“The manager was Derek Adams, who is there now. He gave me that platform. We had tough training sessions and everyone had to work hard for each other. Everything else takes care of itself.”

Jervis is on a season-long stay with Wimbledon. He still has another 12 months after that on his Luton contract.

The player makes it clear that it was him – and not Hatters boss Nathan Jones – who was the driving force behind his temporary transfer.

“He didn’t really want me to go out on loan,” said Jervis. “It was something I looked at.

I was living away from my family [based in the Midlands] and if you are not playing it is something you don’t really want to do.

“If you are making that sacrifice of being away from them then you want to get regular game time. I wanted more of that and to show what I can do.

“Whenever I get the time now I go back to see my family.

“I’m there [at Luton] for another season. We’ll have to re-evaluate things when I come back. There are a lot of factors.

I’m at Wimbledon at the moment and want to do as well as I can. “I have really enjoyed it. I’ve known the manager [Neal Ardley] over the years. We’ve spoken after games – he’s expressed an interest in me a few times.

He was a big influence in coming here. I did my research and spoke to players – I have played with Andy Barcham and Karleigh Osborne.”

Four defeats in their last five fixtures has seen the Dons slide to just above the League One trapdoor.

Jervis said: “If you look at the stats then I think before the weekend we were in the top three for every stat bar goals scored and goals against – which are obviously major ones. We create chances.

“In terms of changing that, it is something we work on daily in training. We make sure the boys keep in good spirits.

“We played Portsmouth earlier in the season [in the EFL Cup] and got the win.

They are going to want a little payback. We’ll try and get exactly the same outcome as last time.”