DORCHESTER Town assistant-boss Phil Simkin has expressed his delight at seeing former loan star Danny Ings earn a new deal at AFC Bournemouth.

The 18-year-old spent 10 weeks on loan at the Avenue Stadium, scoring seven goals in an impressive spell, before being recalled by his parent club 10 days ago.

The striker’s recent exploits have been rewarded in the form of a two-year contract at Dean Court.

And Simkin believes the Magpies can take pride in helping Ings achieve his dream.

He said: “It’s excellent news for him as he’s a good lad. It shows that his loan spell with us did him good.

“It’s a two-way thing and while he did well for us, we did well for him.”

Asked if he remained hopeful of seeing Ings return to the county town in the New Year for another loan stay, Simkin added: “We do keep in touch with Bournemouth but I doubt there’ll be any movement on that front for a while.

“They wanted him back to have a closer look at him and now they’ve tied him up to a two-year deal I’m sure they will want him playing regularly, which might mean they lend him to us once again.

“However, you can’t second guess what will happen. They have been very good to us and we’re very grateful for what they have done.

“Hopefully if they do decide to loan him out again, we will get first refusal. If there were a chance to have him back we would love to make it happen.”

Meanwhile, Simkin has expressed his frustration with the wintry weather, which has put paid to the Magpies’ last two outings and could threaten this Saturday’s trip to St Albans City.

Ashley Vickers’ right-hand man said: “There’s no substitute for match practice. Looking at the forecast, it doesn’t look too promising for Saturday as it’s supposed to be minus four in St Albans on Friday night.

“However, we will have a good training session tonight and see what happens.”