JASON Tindall admitted Mark Travers needed to get some first-team games under his belt, adding: "You can only sit on the bench for so long."

The goalkeeper was sent to League One strugglers Swindon Town on loan last week, and made his debut at the weekend.

The Irishman instantly impressed, helping his new side to a surprise 3-2 win at Ipswich Town.

Travers burst onto the scene in May 2019 having been handed a shock first-team Cherries debut by former boss Eddie Howe, aged just 19.

The Maynooth-born star had a day to remember, named man-of-the-match after helping Cherries to a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

Since that day, Travers, now 21, has featured eight more times for the Dorset club. He started the first Championship game of this season and most recently featured in a Carabao Cup loss at Manchester City in September, but has spent the majority of the season playing second fiddle to in-form Asmir Begovic.

But Tindall admits the stopper, who has earned two senior caps for Republic of Ireland, needed more regular game-time.

"I feel Mark Travers has been here for a long time now and we think the world of him at a football club," the Cherries boss told the Daily Echo.

"He’s got such a bright future ahead of himself, but it comes to a point when you can only sit on the bench for so long and you need to play games.

"You need to feel that emotion of league football and go out and develop. We see it with Aaron Ramsdale, when he went to Chesterfield and Wimbledon and how well that served him.

"Travs probably should’ve gone out on loan last year but didn’t really get the opportunity to do so."

Travers, who joined Cherries in 2016, previously spent a stint out on loan at non-league Weymouth during the 2017-18 season.

Someone who also played games for the Terras on loan having come through the academy was Will Dennis, who has now been promoted up to the number two spot behind Begovic.

The 20-year-old made his first-team Cherries debut on Saturday in the FA Cup victory over Oldham Athletic.

Since Travers joined Swindon, teenagers Josh Clarke and Billy Terrell have taken it in turns to be involved in matchday preparation for Cherries, acting as the third goalkeeper in warm-ups.

And Tindall insists he is happy with the goalkeeping unit he has for the rest of the season, with Cherries retaining a 24-hour recall clause to bring Travers back from Wiltshire if necessary.

Asked if he was planning to add another keeper following Travers's exit, Tindall said: "No, not looking to bring anyone else in. Happy with who we’ve got available to us.

"Obviously Mark Travers can be called back if we have a bit of a crisis, but not looking to bring anyone in.

"If we need to call upon Mark Travers, we need to make sure that he’s had a good amount of games behind him. Hence that’s the reason (he's gone to Swindon) and when you’ve got someone like Will Dennis that is available to the squad, then it makes the decision a little bit easier."

Discussing Travers's debut for Swindon at the weekend, Robins boss John Sheridan said: “I thought the goalkeeper looked really solid – I don’t think he could have done too much about the goals. He made a great save in the first half to keep the score at 1-0 too."