JOSH Gowling admits he faces a "difficult decision" over his future after revealing Cherries' relegation to League Two had hit him hard.
The talented central defender is one of a number of players whose existing contract is due to expire at the end of next month.
And Gowling, 24, would be entitled to leave Dean Court on a Bosman free transfer unless fresh terms could be agreed.
Boss Kevin Bond was hoping to persuade him to commit to a new deal earlier this season, although Gowling was keen to keep his options open.
But with the dust now settled on Cherries' relegation, chairman Jeff Mostyn is expected to open talks with Gowling's representative Gary Lloyd later this week.
Gowling told the Daily Echo: "I didn't realise how much I loved the club until after we had gone down so it would be hard to leave.
"But I've got to make the right decision for me and my career. My agent will be talking to the chairman this week."
Gowling, who was handed an improved contract by former boss Sean O'Driscoll in February 2006, added: "I'm still feeling the effects of relegation.
"It was new to me and I'm definitely not over it. It's hard to describe but it makes you feel a bit numb. It's the first time I've gone through it."
Gowling joined Cherries on a free transfer in 2005 following a successful trial spell and made 36 appearances last season.
He said: "Bournemouth is my first professional club in England and, every year I've been here, we've been tipped to go down, but I never thought it would happen.
"We'd been on such a good run and got it back to being a point adrift. And because you've been on a run, you feel there's no way you can go down.
"Even when it looked perilous after we'd lost the 10 points, I thought we could do it. I thought Doncaster would beat Cheltenham but I was wrong."
The Coventry-born centre-back added: "I went to Carlisle thinking a point would be enough but, after the game, it was heartbreaking. We got a point but Cheltenham won.
"We went into the game wanting to win and didn't go there to get a point. But if you looked at the game at Cheltenham, you wouldn't have expected them to pick up anything.
"When you look at Donny - they would have got automatic promotion if they'd won - you couldn't have any more incentive to win a game than that. But it's not their fault, it was down to us. A win would've kept us up."
