BOSS Jason Tindall insisted he was "delighted" to have Asmir Begovic back available at Cherries after his year away from the club.

The goalkeeper made his first competitive appearance for Cherries since April 2019 in last night's Carabao Cup success against Crystal Palace.

The 33-year-old's time at the club had looked in doubt, having fallen behind Aaron Ramsdale, Mark Travers and Artur Boruc in the pecking order little over a year ago.

Begovic, who signed for Cherries from Chelsea for £10million in 2017, left on loan last summer to join Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag, before switching to AC Milan in January.

But with Ramsdale and Boruc no longer at the club, Begovic is back to compete with Travers for a starting spot under new manager Tindall, making the 63rd appearance of his second spell at the club last night.

Begovic, who shook off a dead leg to feature, kept a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw before both missing and then saving the crucial final penalty from Palace ace Luka Milivojevic to help Cherries advance 11-10 on spot kicks to set up a third-round cup trip to Manchester City next week.

"Asmir didn’t have much to do really during the game but I felt what he did have to do he did well," Tindall told the Daily Echo.

"I was pleased with As’s performance. I’m sure going into the game he didn’t expect to keep a clean sheet, to then miss a penalty and then save a penalty to put us through! But overall, really pleased with the performance."

Begovic has been linked with a move away from the club during this transfer window, with reports suggesting AC Milan were keen to bring him back to San Siro.

The deadline for deals to be completed is not until next month, but asked if he sees Begovic as part of his plans for this season, Tindall said: "Like all of my players, we’ve always got good players linked with different clubs.

"Until someone tells me otherwise, then they’re still a Bournemouth player and I’m delighted to have as many of my best players available to me as possible."