NEIL Martin admitted his “heart’s in Dorchester” after agreeing to stay at the Avenue Stadium for the upcoming Southern League South season.

Left-back Martin, who had made more than 300 appearances for the club, conceded he had had talks with other clubs but had “managed to settle a deal” with boss Steve Thompson.

Martin is one of nine players signed on for the next campaign alongside Ollie Griggs, Tom Blair, Dom Panesar-Dower, Chris Weale, Kyle Egan, Billy Lowes, Aaron Rodriguez and Sean Stewart.

Speaking to Echosport, Martin felt there was “no looking back” once the precise terms of his deal were arranged.

He said: “Tommo spoke to all the lads and pulled me to one side and said he wanted to sign me for the forthcoming season.

“I’ve had a few calls from a few clubs but my heart’s in Dorchester and I wanted to stay. I’ve managed to settle a deal with Tommo.

“I’ve played a lot of games for the club and I enjoy playing my football there. As long as I could agree what I wanted, and what they could afford, there was no looking back.

“It was nice to get the deal done and I look forward to the season.”

Like many of the Magpies’ players to have signed in the off-season, Martin referenced the new 3G pitch as a big factor in deciding to stay.

“We’ve got the 3G being installed and the club’s only going to go forward. The local schools and colleges are really going to benefit from it.

“It gets to the stage where we’re not allowed to play on a 3G pitch (at Football League level), but the way they are at the moment it’s a good place to be.

“They’ll make a lot of money from it and it’s good for the promotion of the club, especially with coming down and training, it might bring the crowds on a Saturday. It’s exciting times,” he said.

With the Magpies building a relatively young squad, Martin has the prior experience having signed for then Dorchester manager Roy O’Brien as a teenager.

He said: “I think it will be me and Wealey (Chris Weale) who are the oldest guys there. When I signed when Roy was there I was 19 or 20 and there are a lot of players who are going to be on that level next season.

“It’s good coming up through playing for Dorchester, coming from a youngster to one of the more experienced players.”

And Martin sees no reason why Dorchester cannot build on a promising finish to last season.

He said: “We had a good time at the end of last season, so there’s no reason why we can’t kick on from where we left off.

“I spoke to Tommo a week and a half ago and he’s that kind of person who’s got high expectations of everyone, which is a good thing.

“There’s no point saying we’ll be scrapping at the bottom. He wants to achieve something at the club. We’re talking top 10, maybe pushing for promotion. We’ll see what happens.

“If it doesn’t, we’ll go on through the season and pick up points as we go. It will give the youngers boys a bit of motivation. There’s only one place to go and that’s up the league.”