ARTUR Boruc admits he “felt like an 18-year-old again” after his recall to the Cherries Premier League starting XI.

The Pole, 39, made his first top-flight appearance in 20 months when he was named in favour of Asmir Begovic for the home clash against West Ham in January.

And Boruc impressed, keeping a clean sheet in the 2-0 win and he retained his place for the 4-0 success over Chelsea at Vitality Stadium in the following match.

Begovic returned for two games while Mark Travers was between the sticks for the closing weeks of the campaign, but Boruc played in 12 of the final 16 Premier League matches of 2018-19.

And his form did not go unnoticed as he was handed a new one-year contract this summer to extend his Cherries stay into a sixth season.

Discussing his recall to the side, Boruc told the Daily Echo: “It’s always difficult coming from the bench when you’ve not played for a long period.

“But with age, it’s a little bit easier just because you know how to react and you know how to deal with the pressure.

“I was really happy to be back in goal.”

Asked if he felt any pressure at featuring in the Premier League for the first time in well over a year, Boruc said: “You want to say no, but I felt some.

“I felt a little bit, maybe not stress, but I felt like an 18-year-old again back in the goal.

“It was interesting and everything ended up good. It was very nice. It’s very nice when you’re playing football, when you train every day and you get a reward at the end of the week of playing in the game.

“It was absolutely great.”

The club currently have four senior goalkeepers on the books during the opening weeks of pre-season.

Begovic, Travers and Boruc have been rejoined by Aaron Ramsdale, who enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at AFC Wimbledon during the second half of the last campaign. And Boruc admits he is not sure if he will be the man handed the gloves for the opening Premier League game of the season against Sheffield United on August 10.

He said: “You’re never certain of things in life. I’ll wait and see.

“I signed a contract because I love football and I still want to be involved.

“That’s the thing with goalkeepers. There is just one position and you can’t really play different ones so you have to be patient and work hard. That’s everything you can do.”

Despite Cherries possessing four keepers, the club have been linked with moves for the likes of Jack Butland, Tom Heaton, Joe Hart and Bartlomiej Dragowski during the summer transfer window.

But Boruc is not concerned by the rumours.

He said: “There’s no point thinking about it to be honest.

“If something happens, it happens.”