Last updated on .From the section Football

Ollie Watkins made his first professional start for Exeter in November 2015

Exeter City forward Ollie Watkins says he "insisted" on playing through the January transfer window, despite the club receiving bids for him.

The Devon side rejected several offers for the 21-year-old, with manager Paul Tisdale grateful to the club's board.

"Tis and my agent kept me up to date, so I knew what was going on. Everyone was very honest and we got through it in a nice way," Watkins told BBC Devon.

"I carried on playing because I said to Tis, that's what I want to do."

The Torbay-born player added: "I insisted on playing because I wanted to help the team, and felt that was right for me."

Watkins played in all five of Exeter's games in January, scoring twice as they picked up maximum points to rise to fourth in League Two.

"It has been difficult, not knowing what can happen - I could've been somewhere else in a week's time and there was a lot of speculation," said Watkins.

"It's all about risks and we're doing really well here, I want to help Exeter get promoted."

Tisdale concedes the player will move on, but believes the right decision has been made.

"We could easily have let him go and taken some considerable money, but I think we'll get more at some point not too far in the future," he said.