BOSS Eddie Howe defended his decision to stand by his long-serving lieutenants and insisted: "I've got no problem saying I'm loyal."

Five of Cherries' starting XI at West Ham on Saturday featured under Howe in League One – goalscorer Ryan Fraser, Simon Francis, Steve Cook, Charlie Daniels and Adam Smith. A further two – Dan Gosling and Callum Wilson – played for the Dorset side from the Championship upwards.

A 1-1 draw at London Stadium saw Cherries rise to 12th in the Premier League standings, just three spots below the club-record ninth-place finish achieved last season.

And after presiding over his 100th top-flight fixture, Howe explained why he had kept faith in familiar faces.

Asked for a response to the view that he had been too loyal to the players who had come up through the leagues with him, Howe said: “I think it’s unfair on both.

"I think it’s unfair on me to be accused of being too loyal and it’s definitely unfair on the players because they have been absolutely outstanding.

“There will come a time for everybody where your time is up and that includes me at this football club.

“But I think as long as you see people giving their all every day and you think they have a benefit to the team and the squad, then why not show loyalty?

“It’s in very short supply in the Premier League and in football these days. I’ve got no problem saying I’m loyal.

“Of course there comes a time where you have to be ruthless with decision-making but I think I’ve shown in the past that I’m not frightened to do that as well."

A point at West Ham saw Cherries move to five games unbeaten in the league, although the battle to beat the drop remains tight.

Howe added: “I think it’s important to maintain your momentum because to build unbeaten runs in this division is so difficult.

“If you are able to do it, it can transform your position. We’re on our way to doing that but we’ve still got a lot more work to do.

"If we can continue to produce performances where we are near our best, I think we’ll be fine.

“In recent weeks, we’ve had that really good flow about us where we have attacked with freedom and haven’t had too much caution in our play.

“That probably wasn’t there in the early stages against West Ham but it was definitely there in the second half and with the quality we’ve got, I back us to be good enough to stay up.

“Every year we’ve been in the Premier League, it’s been incredibly tough to stay in it.

“When I look back over the past two seasons, we’ve had some really difficult periods and it’s about being mentally strong enough to go through those and come out the other side."

Meanwhile, Cherries continue their Premier League Cup campaign when they face Norwich City at Carrow Road tomorrow (7pm).