Joe Rothwell is delighted to have helped Southampton secure promotion back to the Premier League – but doesn’t know where he will be playing next season.

The ex-Rovers midfielder spent the second half of the campaign on loan at St Mary’s from Bournemouth, making 20 appearances and bagging braces in the wins against Huddersfield and Sunderland.

Rothwell featured against West Brom in the play-off semi-final but was an unused substitute against Leeds at Wembley as Adam Armstrong, a former team-mate at Ewood Park, got the goal that ensured Russell Martin’s side will be playing in the top flight next term.

The 29-year-old was pleased to get over the line in their promotion push but admitted the loan spell hadn’t quite gone to plan on a personal note, having only started nine games.

 “It’s probably not quite gone as I would’ve liked it to,” he told Daily Echo. “But I tried to contribute in ways that I can, when I can.

“Thankfully we managed to get the job done in the end. Obviously, that was the end goal when I came here so, thankfully, we managed to do that.”

Rothwell is still under contract at Bournemouth, having joined on a free transfer in the summer of 2022 following a four-year stay in East Lancashire.

The midfielder is relaxed about his future and is focused on enjoying the promotion and spending some quality time with his family to refresh before the hard work starts again in preparation for next season.

Rothwell explained: “I’d say it was up in the air. Obviously, I have got to go back to Bournemouth. I will have conversations with them, see where they see me and just take it from there really.

“But I am not thinking about that. Obviously, I have just got promoted so it is time to enjoy it now for the next couple of days and then get away with the family, relax and come back ready to go.”

He added: “I’ve kind of just gone on with what I needed to do, in terms of being a Southampton player, so no immediate conversations.

“Now, the season is over and thankfully it has ended the way we wanted and I can get away, relax and come back ready to go.”

Bournemouth finished 12th in the Premier League under Andoni Iraola, bouncing back from a difficult start to the campaign to eventually finish one point off the top 10.