The utility player has been out of action for the past eight months after suffering a double leg-break last season.
However, this week new management duo Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall involved all players in training - injured or otherwise - in their own unique way.
“They got me involved in watching and trying to pick the best player,” Purches told afcb.co.uk. “It was good for team spirit, for the others trying to impress people, and it gave me a bit of responsibility to pick the best player so it was good.
“It was nice. It’s hard – you’re in the gym all the time and you can get sort of lost in just doing your rehab.”
Having been teammates with Tindall during the promotion campaign of 2002/2003, and being brought back to the club by Howe in 2010, Purches was understandably delighted to be reunited with the management pair.
“I have known them for a long time. Things unfortunately haven't been going quite how we wanted - it is no fault of effort, it just wasn’t quite happening.
“They have come in, and you have that honeymoon period to start with and the lads are buzzing about to try and impress and show what they can do.
“It (Returning to AFC Bournemouth) meant a great deal to me at the time, and hopefully if they can recreate half of what they did before they’ll be doing a good job and I’m sure they’ll do that.”
To hear Stephen Purches talk more about his comeback from injury, as well as how he believes the squad can do this season, watch the exclusive full length interview NOW on Cherries Player.
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