DANNY Hollands has handed Cherries a timely boost by insisting he wants to stay at Dean Court.
The midfielder, who racked up 42 appearances as Cherries beat the odds to reach the League One play-offs this season, is out of contract this summer.
But the 25-year-old shrugged off the disappointment of Wednesday night’s play-off penalty shootout agony to confirm his future lies in Dorset – if he can agree terms on a new deal.
Cherries boss Lee Bradbury is today set to hold talks with Hollands and the club’s other out-of-contract players – Ben Williamson, Steve Lovell, Dan Thomas, Tim Stephenson and Mathieu Baudry.
Hollands told the Echo: “There are 22 good players in our dressing room and there will always be clubs that want to sign them because they can do a good job.
“But, hopefully, the chairman and the club can stay together because we want to keep competing as a team.
“But nobody can say what will happen for definite, because people have seen what happened to Josh McQuoid, Brett Pitman and Marvin Bartley. Players get offered a lot of money and it’s like any other job – people can’t have a go at them for leaving.
“I’m like anyone else out of contract. We have talks with the manager today and they will come back with an offer for me I hope.
“I love it in Bournemouth. I have been down here for several years now and my family is just an hour up the road so it’s perfect for me.
“I hope the club will be fair with me so I can stay here, but I can’t say now what the future holds even though I am hoping to still be a Bournemouth player next year.”
Hollands has endured a topsy-turvy ride since arriving on the south coast from Chelsea in 2006.
Signed by Sean O’Driscoll, the former Stamford Bridge reserve team captain tasted relegation from League One in 2007, before playing his part as Cherries bounced back last season.
Wednesday night’s play-off semi-final heartache at the Galpharm Stadium, though, was even new for Hollands as Cherries missed out on an Old Trafford showpiece by a whisker.
Hollands added: “We’re gutted. We have played Huddersfield four times this year and been the best team in all four games.
“They openly admitted that when we were coming off the pitch and they were saying we deserved to win the game.
“We were so close in extra-time, but it is a learning curve for us all and we need to keep our heads up.
“We were so unlucky to not finish the job, but I hope we can stay together and have another go next season.”
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