MANAGER Jason Tindall said Cherries would like to keep Nnamdi Ofoborh at the club – but insisted that decision would come down to the player.

The Cherries boss was speaking after the young midfielder was left out of Saturday’s squad for the FA Cup third-round clash with Oldham – an omission Tindall insisted was “unfortunate”.

Ofoborh, who has made just three substitute appearances in the Championship this season, sees his current deal at Cherries expire this summer.

Asked if the club has spoken to the Nigeria under-20 international about his contract situation, Tindall told the Daily Echo: “The club spoke to Nnamdi some time ago, yes.”

He added: “If Nnamdi wants to stay at the football club, it is going to be down to him.

“He’s certainly a player we like and we want to keep. It then becomes the player’s decision whether he wants to stay at the football club or not.”

Ofoborh played 25 times in all competitions for Wycombe last season, helping the Chairboys gain promotion via the League One play-off final.

Quizzed on whether the 21-year-old could go out on loan during the January transfer window, the manager replied: “It’s one of them. I only can pick the squad I can pick. Nnamdi was just unfortunate that he missed out (against Oldham).

“It was unfortunate because we had Cameron Carter-Vickers back, who needed minutes and Jack Stacey, who needed minutes.

“Gav Kilkenny’s not really had a lot of game time and Phil Billing and Dan Gosling was the midfield.

“Do I want to lose any of my players now in this window? Certainly not, certainly not going into the second half of the season.”

Ofoborh was also asked about his contract situation by the Daily Echo last week.

He said: “I’m not really focused on the contract situation side of football.

“I just focus on what I can do and I can do on the pitch and I leave the rest of it to my agent. Obviously, the people are going to take care of that.

“I’m a footballer first and I don’t really focus on things off the pitch so for me personally, I’m just focused on ball and improving every day in training and being happy.”