KEY defender Warren Cummings has handed Sean O'Driscoll a timely boost by declaring himself fit for the rest of pre-season.

It was feared that Cummings could be ruled out until the start of the new campaign after suffering a reaction to the hernia operation he underwent three days after Cherries' play-off final success in May.

But following an anti-inflammatory injection last week, the Scotsman came through 90 minutes of Cherries' 2-1 friendly victory over non-league neighbours Bashley last night.

And the 22-year-old is optimistic that he will suffer no further ill effects from the surgery.

Cummings said: "I was always confident I would be okay and thankfully a little bit of work with our physio Jim Marshall, and taking it easy for a bit has done the trick.

"I could have played on Saturday against Portsmouth but the management wanted to be careful and that has probably helped me.

"When they operate on a hernia, they use a piece of mesh and a clip which holds it together and that was rubbing against the bone and it felt worse than before I had even had the operation.

"But the injection settled it down and touch wood, I will not need another one."

Cummings had completed the first week of pre-season, enjoying run-outs against Hamworthy Recreation and Poppies, before the flare-up forced him out of Cherries' defeat by West Ham last Tuesday.

And the former Chelsea man admits he is relieved he will not have to play fitness catch-up on the rest of his team-mates.

He added: "It would have been a big blow to miss the rest of pre-season because you are missing the hardest part when you get your fitness.

"Some people never recover from missing the pre-season all season. It is really hard to get back involved.

"But I had done a bit of work over the weekend so trained on Monday for the first time and had no reaction hence the reason I played against Bashley."

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Gareth Stewart, who injured his ankle against Hamworthy Recreation a fortnight ago, is expected to resume training at the end of this week.

And team-mates Neil Young (bruised heel) and Stephen Purches (shin splints) are both set to join Stewart after sitting out last night's trip to Bashley.