EDDIE Howe believes Cherries could still top their highest Premier League position of eighth – but is refusing to target European qualification.

Marc Pugh's strike earned Cherries a fully deserved 1-0 win over reigning champions Leicester at Vitality Stadium on Tuesday, a victory which took them to eighth ahead of last night's fixtures.

Just eight years ago – and days before Howe took the reins for the first time on New Year's Eve 2008 – Cherries were 91st in the Football League.

And while Howe hailed the club's rapid rise from League Two to the Premier League's top half, he admitted he remained hungry for more.

"We're building nicely," he said. "The team is growing and getting better and there's still a lot more to come.

"We're in a really good position to hopefully kick on and get better.

"I think it's an understatement really, from our perspective, to be happy.

"The club has come so far, so quickly and sometimes it's maybe nice for others to sit back and enjoy the position we are in.

"But for me, I'm always looking for more and to achieve the next goal – and that is to try to beat Southampton."

Cherries host Saints on Sunday with Howe far more concerned with how to topple them than lingering on any idle thoughts of continental qualification.

"I'm not going to say Europe, I'm going to say I want to make the team better," he said. "I want to make the team stronger.

"And in many aspects, I believe that is possible. So what that leads to, who knows.

"But when you consider where the club was a few years ago, you wouldn't have thought this was possible.

"But it's not my job to sit back and look at that achievement in any kind of way because there is another dream to chase now."