CHERRIES star Harry Arter admitted he had not foreseen his dramatic rise up the leagues after signing an improved three-and-a-half year deal at Dean Court.

Following his release by Charlton in 2009, Arter plied his trade in Conference South with Woking and at one stage considered turning his back on the game.

However, a £4,000 switch to Cherries in 2010 revitalised the career of the Londoner and he developed into arguably one of the Championship’s best centre-midfielders under boss Eddie Howe.

Discussing his spell at Woking, Arter told the Cherries website: “Time has gone quickly but it does seem so long ago.

"If someone had said to me when I was in Conference South that I would one day be top of the Championship and in with a good opportunity of playing in the Premier League, I probably would have laughed.

“But I’m not satisfied yet. As much as we’ve come a long way, I still want to get into the Premier League because otherwise the journey will not be complete."

Arter added: “Before the manager came back a few years ago it was quite a turbulent time at the club – it wasn’t the happiest of places to play and I wasn’t enjoying it too much.

“That was the first time I thought about going elsewhere but since the current manager returned, I’ve never looked back.

“I’m lucky to have a really good manager who helps me all the time and a good group of players to play alongside. I’ve still got things to learn and want to keep getting better.”

The 25-year-old, who has five goals in his last seven appearances, revealed that contract negotiations had been swift and that he had found it easy to put pen to paper.

Arter continued: “It’s only been going on a couple of weeks so it was quite a quick one. All the paperwork has been done and I’m pleased to be staying.

“The club is going in the right direction. While we’re doing well it would have been a silly time to think about going elsewhere.

“Once all the paperwork was sorted out, I wanted to sign as soon as possible.”