JASON Tindall admits it was "really tough" to be told he would no longer be Cherries boss, adding: "I think it will be difficult for me to go back to the Vitality any time soon."

Tindall, who first joined Cherries as a player in 1998, left the club last week having been sacked as manager following defeat to Sheffield Wednesday - the fourth Championship loss in succession which left them sixth in the table.

Jonathan Woodgate has since stepped up in caretaker charge, presiding over victories against Birmingham and Burnley, as the club seek a new permanent boss.

And Tindall has now spoken out about his departure from Cherries, having been informed over the phone last week the club would be letting him go.

In his first interview since leaving the club, Tindall told talkSPORT: "It was really tough. You can't sort of jazz it up to be anything other than a real difficult phone call to take.

"I was surprised it was a phone call.

"When I look back over the 22 years that I've been at the football club and the service that I've given their club, I do walk away immensely proud.

"I think it will be difficult for me to go back to the Vitality any time soon. But I'm a Bournemouth fan, my family are as well.

"I'll support from afar and whoever the next permanent manager is will have my full support in trying to get the club back to the Premier League. And if that's the case then it'll be a proud moment also for myself, having left them in the position that I did."

It is understood one of the main reasons the dismissal had to be done over the phone was that, under COVID-19 protocols, club officials had to leave the stadium as soon as the fixture was completed. 

They were therefore not given the opportunity to speak to Tindall in person. 

The former boss added: "As I said in my parting letter to the fans, I walk away with my head held high - never being out of the top six this season, the majority of time in the top four.

"We hit a sticky road and that was the end. I certainly believed things would be fine and the team would go on and get good results. I'm looking forward to seeing that happen."

Discussing what it was like to take over from Eddie Howe, who left Cherries in August of last year following relegation from the Premier League, Tindall said: "Ed was the Sir Alex Ferguson of Bournemouth. There's no manager, in my opinion, that will ever go on and achieve what Ed did.

"A fantastic manager and someone that was so well thought of at the football club by fans, staff and players. Obviously the disappointment of relegation and then a number of staff being made redundant and a number of players then leaving, added to Ed no longer being there, I think when you put all that into the mix, it was a really tough task.

"Did I leave them in a healthy position? Most definitely. Are they still on track to achieve the goal that we first set out back in July? Most definitely.

"In the Championship if you finish in the top six, come the end of the season you've got a great hit of getting back to the Premier League."