FORMER Rochdale defender Dave Bayliss is looking forward to meeting old friends when he visits Spotland with his new club Luton next Saturday.

It was a shock to the fans when he was released from his contract to join the Hatters after nine years and 218 first-team appearances.

That he was allowed to join promotion rivals, and on a free transfer, caused more than a few raised eyebrows and chairman David Kilpatrick admitted at a recent fans' forum that it was a mistake to not ask for a fee for his services.

And the 25-year-old, who has earned rave reviews since joining Luton, has admitted he was disappointed to leave Spotland.

'Wrench to leave'

Baylis said: ''It was a wrench to leave Rochdale because I had been at the club since I was 15. I made a lot of friends there, as did my parents, and we are looking forward to going back next week.

''I'm not expecting too much stick if I play in the game next week because I always had a good relationship with the supporters.

''The reason I left was simple - I wanted first-team football. It had been made clear that I wasn't going to be a regular in the side and even if it had meant stepping down to the Conference for first-team football I would have done just that.

''Under Steve Parkin it was always a case of whoever had the shirt and was performing kept hold of it but that changed when he left and I was told that Gareth Griffiths and Richard Jobson would remain in front of me in the pecking order.

''As it turned out Luton came in for me and they are a massive club with phenomenal support and I jumped at the chance to go there,'' he added.

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