EDDIE Howe admitted the omission of key players from Cherries’ line-up indicated the strength of his squad.

The Cherries boss made the call to not include Simon Francis from the start against Cardiff, the club captain coming off the bench to provide an assist for Callum Wilson during Saturday’s 2-0 success.

England internationals Jermain Defoe and Lewis Cook were also left to settle for bench roles, the latter was an unused substitute.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “It gets harder every year because the squad gets stronger.

“That means you have to make tough calls but they are good calls to make because you know that, when needed, you have good players to call on.

“I decided to go with the same team as against Marseille (in pre-season) due to the fact that performance was so good. I thought it was very difficult to take anyone out of it.”

Ryan Fraser also found the net against the Bluebirds to get the Dorset club off to a perfect start.

“It was a tough game and full respect to Cardiff because they gave everything to the match and it was very competitive,” added Howe.

“I felt we controlled the first half without really opening them up as much as we would have wanted to but two moments of quality won us the game.”