CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe is relishing an FA Cup showdown with Everton – the club he supported as a boy.

The Toffees will visit Vitality Stadium in the fifth round next month after Cherries finally received a home draw in a cup competition.

It was their prize for winning 2-1 at Portsmouth yesterday – the club’s seventh successive away game in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Cherries shared six goals in their first league meeting with Everton in November and were beaten 5-0 when the clubs met in the third round of the FA Cup at Goodison Park in 1937.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “My first thoughts are with our supporters because we had been due a home draw!

“They have travelled the length and breadth of the country to watch us in the cups and their backing at Portsmouth was superb.

“I am delighted we came out of the hat first and this has all the makings of being a great tie. The league game was certainly entertaining to say the least and there is a lot at stake with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.”

Howe added: “My stand-out memories of the FA Cup were the two cup finals between Everton and Liverpool in the 1980s. As an Everton fan at the time, unfortunately, the results went against us but they were great memories, although for the wrong reasons!”

Cherries, who last reached the fifth round in 1989, have banked £157,500 in prize money this season with £180,000 up for grabs when they face Everton.

The fifth round ties will be played across the weekend of Friday, February 19 to Monday, February 22.

FA Cup fifth round draw: Chelsea v Manchester City, Reading v West Brom or Peterborough, Watford v Leeds, Shrewsbury v Manchester United, Blackburn v Liverpool or West Ham, Tottenham v Crystal Palace, Arsenal v Hull, Cherries v Everton.