BOSS Eddie Howe said he would not seek to bolster his defensive options during the January transfer window.

Cherries have kept four clean sheets in 24 Premier League games, with only Stoke City recording fewer shutouts in the top flight this season.

The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported Cherries and Crystal Palace had joined Celtic in the race to sign Dundee defender Jack Hendry.

But asked if he would look to strengthen his defensive resources, Howe, whose side have not kept a clean sheet since November, said: “In terms of the January window, I don’t think we’ll be looking outside to help us.

“Conceding goals is a slight concern. I think the biggest concern for us around that time was we weren’t scoring enough goals.

“We worked hard to re-find our goalscoring touch and did that maybe at a cost of conceding some goals. But I think it’s a balance which has always served us okay in the past.

“We have been free-scoring but we have always been a team slightly susceptible to concede. But that’s a better balance for us.

“It’s certainly a better balance than we had at the start of the season.”