AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker heralded his side’s ‘fight’ after picking up three points against Aston Villa.
Goals either side of the half-time break saw the Cherries pick up a valuable victory on the opening day of the Premier League campaign.
Jefferson Lerma bagged in the opening stages from a corner before Kieffer Moore sealed the win with around ten minutes left to play.
Speaking to the press following the game, Parker said: “What was most important for me was us taking our chance and showing a real passion, desire and commitment through whatever we may have faced.
“I thought we did that, and I was very proud of the team in that sense.
“We wanted to try and assert ourselves on the game, it was 11 men we were up against and ultimately, while there are players and teams with huge quality, they’re human beings.
“We need to take that fight constantly and the spirit, fight and quality we showed at times today is exactly what we need to bring.”
With the fixture played in front of a packed-out Vitality Stadium, the head coach felt it was important to make the Cherries headquarters a difficult place to come.
“We’re a newly-promoted team and we’re going into the hardest and most-financed league in the world; we know the challenges and what we’re going to face,” he said.
“We need to show our physicality, we need to be horrible to play against, teams need to come here and understand they’re always in a game.
“While they can win or we can win, I want people to know that when they come here, they’re in for a tough afternoon.
“Then, if they get the points, they’re well worthy of them.”
Parker also reserved a word for Moore during his debrief with the press, praising the Welsh striker following a goal on his top-flight debut.
He said: “I thought, overall, his performance today was superb.
“Out of possession he was very, very good and then, of course, he’s always a threat in and around the box.
“For large parts of the game, he did brilliantly.”
