‘We fight until last bite’ warn Cherries

EDDIE HOWE says Bournemouth worked too hard to get to the Premier League in the first place for the next fortnight to be their last dance in the top flight.

In 1996, the Cherries – a perennial third and fourth tier team – came within 15 minutes of extinction but were saved by a supporters’ trust.

And they were still a League Two team as recently as 2009-10.

They were a League One side when Howe returned for a second spell as manager in October 2012, but within three years he had led them through the Championship into the Promised Land.

Since then, Bournemouth have been a Premier League staple, finishing as high as ninth in 2016-17.

But in the last two seasons they have drifted closer and closer to the trapdoor and, with four games left this time, they are bang in the relegation mire.

They have a couple of weeks to save themselves if they want to be among the elite next season and Howe (above) said: “The players know what the prize is. To stay in the Premier League is where we all want to be, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.

“We know how good this league is, we know how tough. But we worked so hard to get into the Premier League. The journey here was enjoyable, of course, but it was tough and there was an incredible amount of effort that went into it.

“We don’t want to give that up easily.”

Bournemouth have arguably the most difficult run-in of the relegationthreatened sides with Leicester today, Manchester City, Southampton and Everton to come.

But Howe added: “This season, for whatever reason, we have performed better against the bigger teams.”