TOM Bearwish has left AFC Totton to return to his parent club Eastleigh.

Stags boss Louis Langdown got a call from Spitfires caretaker boss Ben Strevens on Monday to say the striker was being recalled.

Handily for Langdown, he already had a replacement lined up in former Salisbury wideman Flavio Tavares who had been training with the Stags.

Langdown said: “I’m buzzing for Tom. He’s been different class, adding skill and quality to our squad. All credit to him that he's now in contention for a place in Eastleigh’s side.

“Flavio had been in doing a bit of training but, by his own admission, he hadn’t done much this season and wasn’t ready to play.

“But, with Tom going, I had to push the button and I drove to Bournemouth on Monday evening to get Flavio’s signing sorted.

“He was on the bench against Winchester on Tuesday and we were able to put on two out-and-out wingers (Tavares and Toby Adekunle) after 65 minutes.”

The game ended 1-1 with Craig Feeney snuffing out Oli Bailey’s first-half strike for City.

“They could have been out of sight first half but we put attacking subs on and, in the end, I was disappointed not to win,” said Langdown.

On Saturday Totton are in FA Trophy first qualifying round action at Gosport Borough. It’s a return to familiar territory for Langdown’s assistant Adam Wilde, while ex-Stags Tony Lee, Harry Medway, Pat O’Flaherty and Sam Roberts (cup-tied) are all on Borough’s books