Shrewsbury's Nathan Elder to prove himself at Wimbledon

Nathan Elder signed a three-year deal at Shrewsbury in August 2009

Paul Simpson said there could still be a place for Nathan Elder at Shrewsbury, despite loaning him to AFC Wimbledon.

"Hopefully he can get some goals and a bit of confidence, the Town boss told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"He's a big strong striker, and if he comes back next season we'll see what he can do."

Elder told The Surrey Herald: "It didn't work out as I'd hoped at Shrewsbury, but that's football and I'm delighted to be at Wimbledon."

Elder - who is still training with Shrewsbury - took only two minutes to score on his Dons debut, hitting the opening goal against play-off rivals Mansfield to take Wimbledon up to fourth in the Blue Square Premier table.

"I thoroughly enjoyed that," said Elder. "I'm here until the end of the season and I couldn't tell you how happy I am.

The fans didn't take to him and he didn't perform to the levels I'd have liked him too

Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson on striker Nathan Elder

"Football can be an absolute nightmare sometimes, so as soon as I heard about the possibility of coming here, it was a no-brainer and it's good to be involved."

"I have two and a half years left on my contract there, but I'm not thinking about that. I'm now thinking game by game and not about what might happen to me.

"As far as I'm concerned, the bottom line is promotion (for Wimbledon). As long as we go up, that's all that matters to me now."

Simpson signed Elder from Brentford last August following the sale of Grant Holt to Norwich, but the Londoner failed to make a team-place his own. He scored twice, against Barnet in August and Aldershot in October.

"Let's be clear; he isn't a new Grant Holt - there are very few Grant Holts around, and that's why Norwich had to pay close to half a million pounds to get him," Simpson added.

"But he's a big strong striker I brought in to dominate centre-halves in tough League Two games - and unfortunately he hasn't done that.

"The fans didn't take to him and he didn't perform to the levels I'd have liked him too, so he can go out until the end of the season and get all this out of his system."