CHERRIES legend Brett Pitman spoke on his “eye-opening” Eastleigh loan, after being told players made their own way to some games with no team coach.

The 34-year-old forward failed to make the desired impact at Silverlake Stadium with just one goal in 17 National League matches.

That came in a 5-3 defeat at eventual play-off finalists Solihull Moors, while Pitman only made the starting XI for manager Lee Bradbury on 40 per cent of occasions.

Pitman – who helped fire Cherries to the Championship title in 2015 – has opened up on his loan spell, moving from parent club Bristol Rovers in League Two.

“Going to Bristol a few times a week and staying is alright if you’re playing, but I wanted to be playing,” Pitman told the AFC Bournemouth Podcast. “So I went to Eastleigh.

“Look the lads were fantastic, it was a bit of an eye-opener for me if I’m honest having played 17 years in professional leagues.

“The first game I said ‘what time is the coach leaving?’ ‘Nah, there is no coach – you drive yourself.’ We met up at Maidenhead. I was like, okay, that’s different.”

He continued: “Little things I had to adapt to and I did find it difficult to be honest.

“Even things like I’d play passes and people would be on a completely different wavelength to me – so I did find it tough.

“But like I say, good people, good club and the lads are very good.”

Pitman – who scored 101 goals in 298 matches for Cherries, and recently notched a haul of 11 during the 2020-21 League One season for Swindon – is out of contract with Rovers this summer.

The veteran striker admits he wants to extend his career further, adding: “I’m not entirely sure (where he will play), but I definitely want to carry on playing.

“I still enjoy training, I still enjoy the game and I think I’ve still got a lot of goals to score so we will see what happens.”