UPBEAT Eddie Howe insists his battling cup stars can play a valuable role in the Championship run-in as Cherries aim to crank up their promotion drive.

The Dean Court boss made no fewer than eight changes to his starting XI for the FA Cup clash at Aston Villa – although two were enforced.

Multiple changes were consistent with Howe’s approach for previous FA Cup and League Cup games this season.

The likes of Shaun MacDonald and Ryan Fraser were handed the chance to impress and despite a 2-1 loss, Howe saw enough to suggest that his whole squad had a huge part to play in the final 14 weeks of the season.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “I thought there were very good individual displays on our side and, hopefully, it will give those individuals growth that they can take into the league.

“There has been lots made of changes that we’ve made in the cups but I have always maintained that there’s very little different in terms of quality between our established starting XI and the guys that played against Aston Villa.

“They are outstanding players and but for a bit of luck, they would all be starting in the team.

“That competition is bringing out the best in everyone at the moment and I had no problem bringing those guys in.

“The performances of Adam Smith, Ryan Fraser, Eunan O’Kane and Shaun MacDonald were terrific and they are players that have not featured regularly for us, so that bodes well for the squad.”

Howe reiterated his disappointment at the cup exit, insisting Cherries had held the greater attacking threat.

He added: “When you look at the quality of players that Aston Villa have, I think they were always going to have spells of possession.

“It was up to us to make sure we were compact and maintained our shape. When you consider our goalkeeper had very little to do in the game, I felt we did that.

“I was very pleased that we stuck at it and maintained our discipline.

“It was a game of few chances but I felt we had more moments than them, in both halves.

“A few crosses went into the box in the second half that we were just unable to get a toe on and just before they got their first goal, we were piling the pressure on to try and break the deadlock.”