Will Nightingale could be AFC Wimbledon’s captain one day – but his more immediate future may involve a loan move in January.
Nightingale gave a polished performance at the heart of Dons’ rear-guard in Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy win over Plymouth .
Such opportunities have been limited for the for the 21-year-old, with Paul Robinson and Darius Charles currently ahead of him in the pecking order.
Ardley insists Roehampton-born Nightingale has a massive future at the club, though he may have to leave temporarily to get games in the bank.
“We love Will and I genuinely believe if we get it right with him and we keep him injury free he could be a future captain of the club,” he said.
“We always intended to try and get him on the pitch against Plymouth so we are looking out for him, but if we think a loan is a good thing to do for him we will look to do it because we rate him highly.”
Nightingale had to watch on from the U21s this summer as fellow academy graduate Ryan Sweeney bagged a dream move to Premiership Stoke, but Ardley is quick to point out the two prospects have travelled different paths in recent years which has left Nightingale playing catch up.
“I don’t know if Will was affected by Ryan Sweeney going off to Stoke City, added Ardley, “but Will has had a lot of injuries.
“Ryan had a nice clean run of it from the age of 17 where Will hasn’t had that, so he has had to start again on his development.
“You’ve got to remember too he was a central midfielder prior to us moving him back to central defence and he has got a lot of development to do in that respect.”
