EDDIE Howe will be staying at Cherries for another month after an extension to his loan deal was agreed.

The dependable star, whose initial month-long period was due to expire before Saturday's home clash with Colchester, will now be available to Sean O'Driscoll after Portsmouth agreed to let him stay on for a further month.

Howe, who has endured a torrid run of injuries since his move to Fratton Park in 2002, told the Daily Echo: "I'm delighted. Hopefully I can keep playing games and that is the most important thing to me at the moment.

"Physically, I'm feeling fine. I felt a little bit tired on Saturday but it was such a hot day and there wasn't much air about.

"But I've recovered from that and we now need to put that game behind us and look forward to Saturday."

The 26-year-old has slotted back into the Cherries defence as if he has never been away and did not require any time to think about extending his stay at Dean Court.

He said: "I spoke to Sean briefly after the Luton game. He asked me if I'd like to stay and I said 'yes'.

"I've not spoken to anyone at Portsmouth since I left. I have just been concentrating on my football here and I'm not worrying about anything else."

Under league rules, Howe is permitted a further month's loan extension after this deal expires but is keen to concentrate on the current arrangement before he considers the prospect of a third month.

He said: "We'll get this month out of the way and then see what happens."