AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker spoke to the press earlier today ahead of the Cherries’ home game against Arsenal on Saturday.
Here are three things we learned...
1. High praise for the Gunners
Scott Parker kicked off his press conference by speaking on this weekend's opponents as Arsenal are in town.
Speaking of the job that Mikel Arteta has done, the head coach was full of praise for his counterpart and the philosophy he's instilled at the Gunners.
He said: "What Mikel has done in a short space of time is fantastic. The progression they've made in terms of signings has enhanced them even more. They will be right up there this season.
"We have a big challenge ahead of us. They're a good team and a very technical team all over the pitch. We'll try and make it uncomfortable as much as we can at Vitality Stadium, while being aware of the challenges that we're going to face.
"They're heading in the right direction and they're a team on the upward curve. There's a philosophy around what they've done and I see them improving drastically.
"Gabriel Jesus is a brilliant signing. Mikel had him as a player at Manchester City and he's a top forward, he has everything to his game as a number nine. It's a real challenge from us to try and keep him quiet."
2. Crowd will play their part
Parker has spoken previously about Vitality Stadium becoming a fortress this season, with the home supporters continuing to play their part.
They'll be pivotal once again on Saturday, as the former England international was quick to point out.
"The crowd have a massive part to play," he continued.
"It's a tight stadium, we need to make it uncomfortable all season. We need to generate that and give the energy to the stadium, that's down to us.
"How we do that is the way we play, how forceful we are and how progressive we are in our movements. That's down to us and that's down to my team.
"Scoring early against Aston Villa after two years of not being in the Premier League was the perfect start and we need to make sure we generate that kind of energy again."
3. An impressive win for the development squad
Finally, Parker was delighted to see the club's development squad come away with a 3-0 win over Brighton to kickstart their Premier League Cup campaign on Wednesday evening.
He spoke about the job the academy coaches are doing and explained it was no mean feat to come away with three points in Sussex yesterday.
"It's incredible. Brighton are a category one academy, so it's an unbelievable win," Parker concluded.
"I've always said it, the amazing job the guys do in the academy. The likes of Coops [Shaun Cooper] and Tommy [Elphick], doing such brilliant work with them and it's certainly showing.
"The guys in and around it have difficult circumstances in terms of the category that the club currently are, so it's an incredible result."
Kick-off at Vitality Stadium on Saturday is 5.30pm and supporters can listen to the game for free on afcb.co.uk.
