LIFELONG Bournemouth fan Neil Moss returns to Dean Court tonight more than six years after he reluctantly left the club.

The Barton-on-Sea-born goalkeeper is included in the Southampton squad for Cherries' fund-raising friendly against the Premiership outfit (7.45pm kick-off).

Cash-strapped Cherries were forced to sell Moss to their south-coast neighbours for a cut-price £250,000 in December 1995.

And although the 26-year-old admits he has "no regrets" about leaving, Moss has also revealed he was put under "pressure" to go.

Moss said: "I've got no regrets about leaving Bournemouth but, looking back, I would like to have played more first-team games for them before I moved on.

"But as has been the case with Bournemouth ever since, money dictates and Southampton came in with a good offer - one that Bournemouth thought was acceptable - and once that had happened the pressure was on me to move away.

"At the time, I made no secret that I would have loved to have stayed and played more games.

"I had only just broken into the first team and I would dearly have loved to have played 50 to 100 games before I made that move up.

"But the chairman at the time told me in no uncertain terms that if I hadn't have gone, the future for Bournemouth would have been a lot bleaker.

"I think the £250,000 they got for me paid the wages for a few months and I was told to sort out my personal terms because Bournemouth wanted to sell me, so it wasn't really a case of it being my choice.

"The club were in dire straits financially at the time and they needed the money for me.

"Ian Andrews was at the club and had been the first-choice goalkeeper up until the three or four months that I came in and they felt they would rather have the money and put Ian back in than keep me.

"It really wasn't my decision and, if I had had to go, it would have been to Southampton because they were the neighbouring club and in the Premiership so it did make the decision easier, but there's no way I would have gone at the time.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Southampton and I would have loved to have played more games for them in the years I've been there.

"But I've got on well with the people I've worked with. It's a great club to play for and I couldn't have been treated any better in the six years I've been there."

Moss, who made just 22 league appearances for Cherries, was handed his first Premiership start for 18 months in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday in place of injured first-choice Paul Jones.

And as well as watching most Saints games from the substitutes' bench this season, Moss has also been keeping his eye on his former club and admits he was "as disappointed as anybody" to see Cherries relegated.

He said: "I've supported Bournemouth since I was a young lad and watched from the terraces since I was five or six. It's my hometown club and I was as disappointed as anybody over the relegation.

"It was very disappointing to see Bournemouth get relegated, but when you've got no money, and you have to bring in loan players and play a lot of youngsters, it was always going to be difficult.

"I know it's a clich, but sometimes these things can be a blessing. I think Bournemouth have got some very good youngsters and hopefully if Sean (O'Driscoll) can keep them all together, there's no reason why they can't bounce straight back.

"It will be difficult, but they do play good football, although maybe that's one of the reasons they haven't done too well because teams have muscled them out of games.

"The fans have said they played good football, but have been sucker-punched by teams bullying them and scoring from set-pieces and such like."