LLOYD Kelly insists he is looking forwards rather than backwards after his “up and down ride” to start the season.

A pre-season injury hampered Kelly’s beginning to the campaign, before Tottenham Hotspur tried to sign the defender on transfer deadline day.

Cherries rejected a £20million bid, with Kelly subsequently left out of the squad for the following game against Brentford due to the speculation.

But the 24-year-old returned to the starting XI and produced a stellar display in helping his side to their first clean sheet of the season, in a 0-0 draw against Chelsea at Vitality Stadium.

“I think looking back at the start of the season, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit of an up and down ride,” Kelly told BBC Radio Solent.

“But I'm here and I want to play the best football that I can.

“I think that's my goal for this season, to be consistent in my performances and play to where I know I can play. So for me, that’s my goal.”

Asked if he made the decision not to travel to Brentford, or if that was taken out of his hands, Kelly added: “I have nothing to say on that, really. I think that's the past now.

"I'm looking into the future and it's me focusing on the games ahead.”

Kelly’s longer-term future at Cherries remains uncertain.

Stripped of the captaincy under former boss Gary O’Neil last season, the former Bristol City man is now into the final year of his contract at Vitality Stadium.

Quizzed on that situation, Kelly remained tight-lipped, saying: “I'm just concentrating on playing football to the best that I can, and I think that’s all I can say on that.

“That's where my head's at. I want to be playing consistently and playing to the level where I can be.”