FANS’ favourite Marc Pugh admits overwhelming support from the Cherries faithful has left him facing an agonising decision over his future.

Pugh will this afternoon be presented with the Daily Echo / Micky Cave Supporters’ Player of the Year trophy after polling almost half of the vote from Echo readers.

The 25-year-old has been a rare shining light during an up-and-down campaign for the Dorset club, scoring 12 goals in all competitions.

But the winger has also endured a certain amount of criticism after stalling on a new three-and-a-half year contract tabled by the club in December.

The Lancastrian has 12 months of his current deal remaining and should he fail to agree terms, could talk to other clubs from January.

Pugh told the Echo: “We have been very inconsistent this year, but the award is a massive compliment and I am chuffed to bits with it.

“It’s a really good achievement and I’d just like to thank the fans and the readers of the Echo for voting for me.

“Although we haven’t performed as well as we should have this season, there are still some really good individual players and it’s a real honour for me.”

Asked for an update on his future, Pugh added: “I am going to go away for two weeks as soon as the season finishes and then I will come back and talk to the club and discuss my future. At this stage, I haven’t made a decision.

“I love the fans to bits and they have been great to me since I have been here. This award shows I must mean a lot to them and they mean a lot to me as well. It does make the decision on my future very tough.”

Pugh will be looking to add to his goal tally when Cherries bring down the curtain on the campaign at home to Preston this afternoon, with interim manager Paul Groves poised to take over the managerial hot seat on a permanent basis.

The appointment could be confirmed as soon as this afternoon, with the former Grimsby boss expected to make decisions on Cherries out-of-contract players in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Cherries look set to receive a nominal five-figure sum following Jason Pearce’s move to Leeds United yesterday.

Former Cherries skipper Pearce penned a four-year deal at Elland Road, with the Dean Court outfit receiving a sell-on fee following his move from Dorset to Portsmouth last summer.