BOSS Eddie Howe says Cherries would be “very interested” in re-signing Jack Collison on loan should the opportunity present itself “in the future”.

Collison helped West Ham reach the fifth round of the League Cup on Tuesday after returning to Upton Park following the end of his one-month stay with Cherries.

The midfielder, who won and scored a penalty in the Hammers’ 2-0 victory at Burnley, made four appearances for Howe’s team – at Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Leicester and at home to Millwall.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “I thought Jack was excellent for us. We knew he was coming in for an incredibly tough run of games, three of which were away from home.

“The only downside from my perspective was that our home supporters didn’t get to see a great deal of him. I thought he did really well in the Millwall game.

“He is an extremely professional and hard-working guy who is a very talented player as well. We were really pleased to have worked with him. He did really well in what was a tough period of games so we can only wish him well in his future career.

“He did well in West Ham’s League Cup match so I would imagine he will feature in their team in the Premier League and that goes to show the calibre of player he is.

“We are very much dictated to by West Ham. We would be very interested in bringing him back at some stage in the future.”

Wales international Collison netted a penalty in the fourth minute of injury-time after coming on as a half-time substitute against Burnley to help set up a quarter-final trip to Spurs.

He told the West Ham official website: “The loan move was a great experience and it was invaluable getting game time. I played four 90 minutes back-to-back in a month, which I hadn’t done in a long time. I’m back now and I feel fitter and sharper.

“You could say I have got a new lease of life and I feel ready to go again and to fight for my place. Nights like Tuesday will obviously go in my favour and, hopefully, I have given the gaffer a few headaches.”