South African-born Midfielder Ethan Chislett Reckons He Offers A Unique Skillset To New Club AFC Wimbledon

South African-born Midfielder Ethan Chislett Reckons He Offers A Unique Skillset To New Club AFC Wimbledon
South African-born Midfielder Ethan Chislett Reckons He Offers A Unique Skillset To New Club AFC Wimbledon. Image source: Pixabay

South African is sparsely represented in English football but AFC Wimbledon have added a ZA-born attacker to their ranks, having completed the signing of Ethan Chislett earlier this month.

Chislett, who just turned 22, has become the Dons No.11 after leaving Aldershot this year. The playmaker scored nine goals and assisted another nine in 36 appearances in 36 National League games for his former club in a campaign that saw him move up four tiers in English football.

With his form getting him attention from a number of Championship and League One sides, manager Glyn Hodges managed to convince the player to join Wimbledon.

“He is a skilful player and we want to keep trying to evolve, to pose different problems to teams, and he will give us a different dimension,” Hodges told the Dons’ official website last week. “We can change formations, tweak little things, and with his goals and attacking play he will be a threat for us.”

Wimbledon are among the clubs least favoured to win League One this season. William Hill has the club at 100/1 to beat all chasers to that No.1 spot in 2020/2021. Sunderland are considered to be the most likely to achieve such at 7/1 with the aforementioned bookmakers. Portsmouth are at 15/2 with Paddy Power, Betfair have Peterborough United at 9/1, and Oxford United are 10/1 with Betfred.

Chislett told KickOff.com he signed with Wimbledon because he felt like their interest was genuine.

“There was a lot of interest [in my services] in January, but nothing really materialised for one reason or another, so I’ve known a lot of clubs have been looking at me over the past 12 months,” he said. “But Wimbledon was one of them that contacted in January and I knew the interest was genuine. They approached me in the summer and I eventually signed the papers.”

The player, who moved to England as a boy, admits being excited to kick the next phase of his career off with Wimbledon. He claims he was told that he’s coming in as a unique find.

“When I signed, the manager said they haven’t really got a player like me, a number 10 who can get into the pockets [of space] and really hurt teams,” he added.

Wimbledon finished 20th in League One last season, taking just 35 points from their 35 outings but will hope to improve after making a number of signings, with Chislett arriving as the fifth acquisition of the summer. Betvictor are offering odds of 33/1 on the Dons attaining promotion next season and punters could check out all of the football betting tips and offers provided by freebets.com. If you fancy an FA Cup bet, there’s a 5000/1 offer from Betvictor on Wimbledon’s prospects.

Meanwhile, Rochdale are 50/1 to go up with Betfair, while Northampton are 16/1 with Betfred. Sunderland are the obvious favourites for promotion and punters can grab odds of 9/4 from SportPesa.

Portsmouth and Petersborough are both 3/1 to earn a move to the Championship with Bet365. Said bookies have 10/3 going on Oxford and 4/1 on Ipswich Town. Charlton Athletic are also 4/1 and Fleetwood Town are 5/1.