AFC Wimbledon will borrow a fantastic custodian from Sunderland, according to the management.

Sunderland’s Alex Bass has given an insight into how his loan move to AFC Wimbledon came about over the summer. Goalkeeper Bass joined the League Two outfit on a season-long deal last month, and the man who was Anthony Patterson’s backup on Wearside last term has immediately established himself as the Dons’ first-choice.

The 25-year-old says geography played a part in his decision to move to the South London club, which is much closer to his South Coast home than Sunderland. And he says his move was held up while the Black Cats looked to bring in a replacement keeper, and he eventually joined the Dons when Sunderland agreed a deal to sign Nathan Bishop from Manchester United – albeit Bishop did not complete his switch until three weeks later

It was quite a slow-burner in the end, to be honest,” Bass said of his move, in an interview with AFC Wimbledon’s official website. “The situation at Sunderland was that they needed to get a keeper in [before Bass could leave], so I was kind of hanging around a little bit there.

“It came up, spoke to the goalkeeping coach [Alessandro Barcherini] at Sunderland, and he really wanted me to come down here. He knew of Bayzo [Wimbledon goalkeeping coach Ashley Bayes] quite a lot – I think they went on a course together in the summer and they spoke about me then and things just kept rolling from there

And of the geography, Eastleigh-born Bass added: “It was one of the things I thought about a little bit when the move came about. Being from the South Coast, Sunderland is a long way from home where as this is probably an hour-and-a-half max up the A3, so it’s a great place to come and I’m really enjoying my football here so far

Bayes has a reputation as a larger-than-life character, and Bass is enjoying working under him. He said: “He’s a great guy. You can see that everywhere you go, he’s infectious.

“His attitude to training is phenomenal, he makes you work really hard and he is just a great guy – he really cares about you on and off the pitch

AFC Wimbledon have made an excellent start to the season, unbeaten in their first five games to sit fifth in the table, and defeating Championship side Coventry City in the Carabao Cup to set up tonight’s tie against Premier League Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In the league, Bass has kept three clean sheets so far, and conceded one goal in each of the other two games.

“As a goalkeeper, you are judged on the number of clean sheets that you keep and to have the start we have had has been excellent and long may it continue,” said Bass. “The boys in front of me have done really well as well, because it’s not just me, the whole back four takes pride in keeping clean sheets.”

He added: “If you look at the club, there are something like nine or ten new signings from last season. It’s a back line that has not so much been thrown together, but in pre-season there were a few changes and now you look at us and we look really solid

“The more we play together, the better we get and the stronger the connections we build. We know each others games now and that’s the most important thing.

“When you build that relationship with people and they know your game inside out and you know theirs, its really good for the base of the team to keep us moving forward.”

Bass joined Sunderland from Portsmouth last summer but made only two appearances last season, one in the first round of the Carabao Cup at Sheffield Wednesday and one in the third round of the FA Cup at Shrewsbury Town. He is under contract on Wearside until 2025, with the club holding the option to extend his deal for an additional 12 months.