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Afobe - You want to have the scoring feeling

Benik Afobe netted the winner in the Cherries' 2-1 pre-season win at Portsmouth - and enjoyed getting back on the goal trail.

Afobe's quick thinking in the 54th minute enabled him to turn Ryan Fraser's low shot home from close range, the striker's back heel coming within two minutes of Conor Chaplin's Portsmouth equaliser at the other end. 

The goal - coupled with Lys Mousset's clinical opener - paved the way for the Cherries' second successive 2-1 pre-season success.

"At this stage of the season it's all about fitness," Afobe told afcb.co.uk after the game. "It's about working with your new teams and working hard to get back to your match fitness; to get a goal and a win tops it off and I'm delighted with the work the boys have done."

Afobe explained that though the goal was in a friendly as a striker the habit of finding the net was one he wanted to get into as quickly as possible.

"For a centre-forward you want to score goals," he said. "Whether that's in a training game, a friendly game or an official game during the season.

"You just want to score goals, getting that feeling back of hitting the back of the net is important for your confidence, for the team and I'm just delighted to get off the mark for this new season.

"The finish showed a bit of an instinctive reaction, The ball was coming to me in the six-yard box and I think the only way I could have scored was to flick it and then I saw it hit the back of the net."

Playing for nearly 60 minutes in an attack with the impressive Mousset and Max Gradel, Afobe was satisfied with the Cherries' attacking force.

"You want to link up with your team-mates, we've been away for four or five weeks so we're just getting back into the swing of things again," he said at a rain-swept Fratton Park.

"Linking up with my team-mates is one of my strong parts and I like to interact with the number ten, the wing men and midfielders.

"We showed some good combination play and we just wanted to keep going now; we'll be ready in a few weeks time against West Brom."