BOSS Eddie Howe saw Cherries topple promotion rivals Watford last night and then tasked his players with improving their record against the teams around them in the Championship.

Yann Kermorgant’s first-half penalty and Matt Ritchie’s finely-taken second-half goal earned Cherries a 2-0 victory over the Hornets in front of the Sky Sports cameras at Dean Court.

It was Cherries’ second win of the season against a team currently in the top six, with Howe’s men having also beaten Brentford at home and drawn at Watford and Middlesbrough and lost on the road at Derby.

Howe said: “If there has been a question mark against us, it is beating the teams around us. We haven’t done that regularly enough for our liking.

“That is the next challenge to set this team and beating Watford was a very good start. There are some big tests to come and, if we could reproduce our performance from the second half, I think we would be in good shape.”

Victory, Cherries’ first against Watford since March 1997, saw them open a three-point gap at the top of the Championship ahead of today’s fixtures.

Howe, who has repeatedly played down Cherries’ chances of reaching the Premier League, was asked how he had stopped his players “dreaming of the big time”.

He replied: “I don’t mind them dreaming or wanting. I think the key thing is in their work and their training. You can see when people’s performances are being affected by outside influences. It is up to me and the staff here to make sure the players concentrate on every day and being the best they can.

“The minute you start looking too far ahead is when the short-term goals get affected. That is how we work anyway and will carry on doing that."

Howe added: “Every football fan, no matter what their club’s financial situation or the state of their squad, hopes for success every season.

“We are in a fortunate position at the moment. We are enjoying where we are and, as the games go down, they will get more exciting. But there are some big teams and some very good sides behind us and it will be a very exciting finish.”

Asked how he felt about Cherries competing for promotion with some of the more established clubs in the Championship, Howe replied: “We don’t mind that, we like it.

“I think there is pressure within the club and pressure from our supporters. We feel that in terms of performances and winning games. That is what you have to do when you are in football so I don’t think we are exempt from that feeling.

“It may be more magnified at the bigger clubs but, from where this club has come to be where we are now, I would like to think everyone could enjoy the moments and not take them for granted.

“We have just beaten Watford at home and, if you were to go back a few years, that would not have been possible so we are in a good place.”