CHERRIES goalkeeper Neil Moss has told the Dean Court faithful: "There is life after Carl Fletcher."

Moss - in similar circumstances to Fletcher - was sold by cash-strapped Cherries to keep the wolves from the door when he moved to Southampton in 1995.

Cherries initially announced the Moss deal to be worth £500,000 - before it later emerged he had actually been sold for just £415,000.

And just nine months after he had left, Cherries asked Saints to buy out an appearance-related clause in his contract in a panic move to pay wages and instalments due to the Inland Revenue.

Earlier this week, Cherries sold Fletcher for a fee in the region of £275,000 to West Ham, with some of the funds earmarked to pay the tax man.

Moss, who has seen a number of Cherries' prized assets leave the club during his two spells, told the Daily Echo: "There is no doubt that Carl will be missed, both on the pitch and off it, but this is something that happens at all clubs.

"All clubs lose their players and you just have to get on with it," added Moss.

"We're a selling club. The financial situation seems to get worse all the time and the money coming in for Carl will help out with that and maybe help us get paid at the end of the month so, from that point of view, there was no decision to make.

"The transfer market is dead at the moment and you've only got to look around and see some of the players who are moving for next to nothing or even nothing. Any sort of money is good money and I think what they got for Carl seems to be good business in this day and age."

Moss made just 24 appearances in more than seven years at Southampton before he returned to Dean Court on a permanent basis in February 2003 following a successful loan spell.

He publicly admitted he had been reluctant to leave Cherries in the first place, although he was apparently told his team-mates and club staff would not receive their wages unless he went.

Moss added: "I didn't really want to leave at the time. I was playing first-team football here and knew full well that wouldn't be the case at Southampton.

"But I was told I had to go. They had Ian Andrews here at the time who could do a good job in goal and I was told to more or less get out of the door.

"Carl's older than I was at the time and he's a very confident lad. I'm sure if he didn't want to go then he would have put his point of view across. It's a great opportunity for him and anybody in his position would have jumped at the chance.

"We've got some good young players here and I've been impressed with James Coutts and James Rowe who have come into the squad.

"Carl's departure will give someone else an opportunity to come in. He was a dominant force in our team in the fact he was captain and he had a big voice on the pitch but now he's gone, it will give someone else a chance in the middle of the park to stake their claim."