Sky Bet EFL Q&A: AFC Wimbledon's Steve Seddon on wanting to change the perception of loan players, his love of American sports and why he wanted to play with Matthew Etherington

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AFC Wimbledon left-back Steve Seddon isn't your typical loan player - quiet, unassuming and maybe a little timid on the pitch.

No, the 21-year-old is a joker around the changing room and loves a good moan on the pitch - his words, as he admits in this week's Sky Bet EFL Q&A.

In his second loan of the season from Birmingham City after spending the first half in League Two with Stevenage, Seddon has become a pivotal figure in Wimbledon's remarkable fight against relegation to League Two.

AFC Wimbledon defender Steve Seddon has impressed while on loan from Birmingham

The Dons have collected 21 points from the last 11 games and go into the Easter weekend with thoughts of survival. That run began with a 1-0 win at Walsall in which Seddon scored the winner. Unsurprisingly, he picks it as the best moment of his career so far.

A lover of American sports, he has a soft spot for Creme Eggs and would like to have played under Dutch maestro Johan Cruyff.

Describe yourself on the pitch in 3 words.

Passionate. Aggressive. Moaner (I've got to say that, everyone batters me for it).

Describe yourself off the pitch in 3 words.

Light-hearted. Happy. Laid-back.

Best moment of your career so far?

My first goal for Wimbledon against Walsall (in a 1-0 win in February). The ball was cleared out. I was on the halfway line. I played it through to our centre-back and carried on my run. I took another touch and rolled in Michael Folivi, who set up Anthony Wordsworth. His shot was saved and I was able to tap it in from about six yards out.

It was the best moment purely because I'd come to Wimbledon with the intention to make a difference here. We'd lost 2-0 at home to Burton on the Saturday, it wasn't a good performance and we were 10 points adrift of safety.

Our goal difference was terrible compared to everyone else's and it just seemed like 'If not a win at Walsall, then when?'

We had done well in the first half, our keeper Rambo (Aaron Ramsdale) had made a couple of saves and it was a moment that showed me that I was right in coming to Wimbledon.

It proved to myself that I could do it in League One, like I did it in League Two (on loan at Stevenage in the first half of the season) and make an impact.

With Wimbledon, the position we were in and still are in, you can't put a price on points and that was the result that started our climb to where we are now.

It was my first goal for Wimbledon and I got yellow-carded for over-celebrating with the fans as well. The feeling I got from scoring and from that win was quite definitive in backing up what I felt.

If we do manage to stay up, I can't wait to have that feeling because I'm someone who can't sleep after a game and when we lose, it hurts a lot. I can't wait to get to the summer and have the feeling that we did the thing everyone said we couldn't do and stayed up.

Who is the hardest opponent you have faced?

David Amoo at Cambridge this season. I was off my game, not at my best, but he was at it and he definitely got the better of me that game.

That will always be a bitter-sweet memory because for me and my development, it's probably better that he got the better of me in that game. I can look back on it now and it still hurts to know that somebody has got the better of you. He scored their goal (in a 2-0 defeat for Stevenage at Cambridge in January).

I think he was just himself. He's quick and his end product that day was very good. It taught me that are no off-days and that you have to be at it every single week.

Most embarrassing moment in football?

I'd say coming off the pitch at half-time in that game against Cambridge. I played the whole game, but it was the feeling going in at half-time knowing that I'd let my teammates down, I wasn't at it and that David Amoo had got the better of me.

It was for the fans as well. Stevenage against Cambridge is the derby for them, so I felt that I was letting them down as well. It was away at Cambridge, our fans had travelled and knowing at half-time that I had let them down was the most embarrassing moment for me.

Seddon admits that he struggled when up against Cambridge's David Amoo

The whole thing about loan players, that they don't care and that they are only at a certain club for experience, I want to buck that trend.

If I'm playing somewhere with fans and I'm wearing that club's shirt with my name on the back and the badge on the front and fans have travelled to the game, then I am going to give my all. That's the type of person I am, wholehearted, and if I love a place, that's where I play my best football. I can definitely say with both Stevenage and Wimbledon that I have loved both clubs. The lads, the staff, everything about them.

Which song gets you in the mood for a match?

I actually listen to quite chilled out music before a game because it only takes one thing and I'll get angry. So I don't want to get angry and pumped-up going on to the pitch for the game because that I know that could end up in a silly tackle or something.

My song that gets me in the mood for anything at any time is 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman. That's my favourite. That will make me happy for anything and I'll enjoy whatever I'm doing.

What's your guilty food pleasure?

Creme Eggs. I just love them. Honestly, I can't wait for Easter Sunday because I gave chocolate and sweets up for Lent. We've got a game on Tuesday against Luton, so I'll hold back on the Creme Eggs for now.

I can have a couple of Sunday and maybe one before the Luton game, but at the end of the season, I'm just going to eat a 12-pack of them.

I used to have Creme Eggs or sweets before a game, but I had to switch it to fruit, so now I take a mango into the changing room and cut that up.

Which player in history would you like to play alongside - and why?

I'll say Matty Etherington. I'm a West Ham fan, so as a kid, I used to buzz off him playing left midfield for West Ham. That was the season that included the FA Cup final against Liverpool. 

I'm not sure our playing styles would suit each other because he's very left-footed so he goes down the line a lot. So the overlap wouldn't always be on for me. But I used to love him.

Seddon revealed that former West Ham winger Matthew Etherington was one of his heroes

Which famous manager would you have loved to play for - and why?

Johan Cruyff. It's total football. He was the mastermind of it all. You'd try and be a sponge around someone like Johan Cruyff and take in everything. I'd probably be asking not to put his boots on to get involved in training, though. I'd rather not face him.

Picking his football brain and just getting his opinion on things. He would be the one manager for me.

What would you be if you weren't a footballer?

Struggling, that's for sure.

What I actually would be is probably working with my dad in the building trade. He's a builder. What I would want to be is something cool, like a fireman or something. I'd enjoy that.

Tell us a secret that fans won't know…

I'm really into American sports, American football, basketball, ice hockey, baseball as well. The one person I'd like to meet and get a signed baseball from him is Mookie Betts (outfielder with the Boston Red Sox). He's a great player. I'm a Florida Marlins fan myself but JB, the physio at Wimbledon, is slowly turning me towards the St Louis Cardinals.

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