NATHAN Ake says he has never known anything like Cherries’ “crazy story” and he is relishing being in the thick of the team’s “fighting spirit”.

Dutchman Ake was reared at ADO Den Haag and then Feyenoord in his homeland, before joining Chelsea at the tender age of 16.

A host of his Cherries colleagues, by contrast, served their apprenticeships in lowlier surrounds and subsequently featured in the club’s rise from League One to the Premier League.

Ake told the Daily Echo: “It’s a crazy story, where the players came from, and where the club came from to where it is now.

“A lot of it is down to the manager, how he does things and how he improves players. I think it’s crazy but you can see they’re all quality players.

“They have a good spirit, a fighting spirit, to go from league to league to league, up, up, up – and to still do it now in the Premier League.

“They just want to get higher and higher.”

While those Cherries stalwarts have forged a strong, determined bond, Ake insists his own relatively gilded upbringing in no way satiates his hunger for the fight.

“I have the same mentality,” he said.

“At Chelsea the expectation is to win. And in the youth teams you have to win everything.

“So I think it’s the same mentality. And the manager here talks a lot about hard work and intensity. He demands that and you have to give that on the pitch.”

Ake’s year-long loan from Chelsea does include a January recall clause.

That is not likely to be invoked, however, with the 21-year-old having grasped his opportunity to play in such style that he already looks a fixture in Eddie Howe’s side.

And Ake is keen to emphasise the crucial role played by his team-mates in helping him integrate seamlessly into Cherries’ back four.

“You train with the players every day so you know how they play,” he said.

“It’s not like I’ve come into a strange team, so you do adapt quite quickly. Everyone takes you in immediately.

“I’m playing centre-back, so with Cooky (Steve Cook), we have a good relationship. We talk outside the pitch as well.

“The connection and the talking is always good with these guys.”

Ake admits he needed some time to come down from his match-winning strike in Sunday’s tumultuous clash with Liverpool – but he now has thoughts only for tomorrow’s game at Burnley,

He said: “If you win a game like that and you’re involved in a crazy game like that, it gives you a feeling afterwards, when you’re at home and reflecting on it – it’s crazy.

“After that you just want more.

“But Burnley will be tough – every game is tough. The manager said at the start of the week ‘you have to be focused and don’t let them surprise us’.

“We must be ready from the start, we’re training for it and we should be fine.”