LLOYD Kelly was pleased to "get through the other side" of his injury setback by making a return against Basingstoke Town last night.

The defender is yet to make his competitive Cherries debut since arriving from Bristol City for £13million in the summer having sustained ankle ligament damage during pre-season.

But he took a big step closer towards the first team by completing 62 minutes in the Hampshire Senior Cup tie against the Dragons at Vitality Stadium, finding the net in an 8-0 rout for Shaun Cooper's side.

"It was a good evening," Kelly told the Daily Echo.

"Obviously going into the game it was a game for minutes and to get my fitness back up. I thought I did that. It was an enjoyable night overall.

"Everything went smooth. It (the ankle) felt good, I wasn't really thinking about it which was a positive, so everything went well."

For Kelly, the timing of his injury was particularly wretched luck having impressed during his pre-season outings for Cherries during their summer camp in Spain.

And the 20-year-old admits the setback was difficult to take.

He said: "It happened at a bad time really, a week before the season started. I felt like I was having a good pre-season, but luckily enough I came back ahead of schedule.

"I managed to get back a lot quicker than we first expected, but I think mentally it is a bit of a tough period to get through, especially when most of the time you're working one-to-one with the physios and everyone else is out on the pitches training.

"But I'm happy to get through the other side now."

Eddie Howe watched from the stands against Basingstoke, and asked what the boss had said to him during his recovery, Kelly added: "A lot of positive stuff, checking up on all the injured boys, making sure we've got our mindset right for when we do come back.

"I think it gives us a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel to look towards for when we do come back."