Surman admits to 'tough times' while he was between clubs

Dropping from the Premier League to League One was not a hard decision to make for Andrew Surman, who said being out of the game for a few months was a difficult for him to come to terms with.

The 34-year-old had been skipper of Bournemouth in the Premier League, but was released after six years with the Cherries following their relegation to the Championship.

Already anticipating playing in the Championship next season, Surman said he was already prepared to drop out of the top flight. However, the pandemic meant offers from clubs were not as forthcoming as he expected, leaving him without a club when the season kicked off again in September.

"Mentally it was a really tough time," he said. "When I was at Bournemouth, I didn't envisage that scenario of being out of contract. You think you'll go here, or go there, or go and play abroad but that never materialised and nothing really came up.

"A lot of clubs tightened the purse-strings because of Covid and had to be selective over who they signed. Some of them opted to sign young players, develop them and sell them on, but I'm at the wrong end of that spectrum at 34. It wasn't too bad at the start, but the longer it went on, I was wondering whether anything was going to happen.

"I knew I was going to have to drop down a division even before Bournemouth got relegated – even if they stayed up, I thought I'd have to go to the Championship. I was geared up for that. I think there's good quality in League One, it wasn't something I was turning my nose up at."

Surman had been training with Luton before going back to Bournemouth to keep his fitness up, but said when Russell Martin came calling for his services, there were no doubts in his mind about signing for the League One side.

He said: "I trained with Luton with a view to a deal but that didn't happen, then I went to train with Bournemouth which is when Russ got in touch and said he'd love to bring me in. Straight away I said yes – I wanted to go to a club which suited my style of play.

"I was just really pleased a club like MK Dons came in for me because they play the right way. The lower you go down, there is probably less football played, they play a bit more direct. So I was really fortunate for the offer to bring me here."