Bournemouth

Eddie Howe: 'We're not in Premier League for a pat on the back, we'll compete'

By Danielle Joynson, Staff Reporter | 15 August 2015

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe tells Sports Mole that his team are in the Premier League to compete, not to just "get a pat on the back" for being there.

Eddie Howe has insisted that he is 'not bothered' if people do not consider Bournemouth to be a competitive threat in their first ever season in the Premier League.

The Cherries' rise to the top flight has been spoken of as a football fairytale given that the club were close to being liquidated seven years ago.

Now that the season has begun, Howe is keen to instil confidence in his players as they attempt to tackle the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal this season.

Ahead of Monday night's showdown against Liverpool at Anfield, Howe told Sports Mole: "To be honest, people's perceptions of us I'm not really bothered about. It's about the perception of ourselves.

"The players need to be very strong in their thought processes - we're not here to just see out a nice season, everyone pat us on the back and say unlucky. We're here to compete and win games.

"We're here to imprint us on the Premier League against some of the top sides - that's what we want to do. To do that, we're going to have to be absolutely convinced that what we're doing is spot on."

Bournemouth began their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the Vitality Stadium last weekend.