Andrew Surman scored Bournemouth's first in their 2-1 win over Stoke
Bournemouth roughed it out, showed they can dig in and scrap and refused to buckle when Stoke chucked the works at them.
Surman, who set them on their way with a beautifully taken goal, said: “It’s not all about fancy football. You have to dig deep and show character.
“If we’re going to do anything we’re going to have to show that every week.
"That would surprise people. I’ve heard people say we play pretty football and we’re a bit soft, things like that, but we don’t believe we are. We try to out work teams.
“Playing against a side like Stoke who are a physical team we have to match them. It showed a lot about us.”
I’ve heard people say we play pretty football and we’re a bit soft
Bournemouth star Andrew Surman
After Surman’s opener in the 16th minute, Junior Stanislas, his provider, doubled their lead from the penalty spot. Mame Diouf’s goal for Stoke were mere consolation.
Joe Allen confirmed Bournemouth can do the horrid stuff, saying: “They killed the game – a bit too much for our liking but I suppose that’s part of the modern game now.
“We can’t hide away from the fact we shot ourselves in the foot first half and they defended well late on.”
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Stoke find themselves in the bottom three but manager Mark Hughes said: “They are a little bit anxious at the moment and I can understand that but they should have confidence in the group of players we have.
“We are a good set. They have a management team that has been in these situations before and been successful so I don’t think they need to worry. It’s not a crisis in my view. We’ll be fine.”
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