EDDIE Howe understood Chelsea boss Antonio Conte's decision to recall Nathan Ake from his loan at Cherries – and revealed he would have done the same.

Dutchman Ake joined Cherries in the summer and had been expected to remain at Vitality Stadium for the season, only to be recalled early by his parent club.

Howe said: "If I had been in Antonio Conte's position watching Nathan play as well as he had done for us, I'd probably be making a similar call.

"I don't think it's a surprise. I think it's a credit to Nathan and how well he did in a short period of time that they wanted to call him back.

"It's all positive for him, although it leaves us in a slightly different position than we'd hope to be.

"That's one of the perils when you take loan players."