CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe felt his players had been rewarded for sticking to their passing principles as they came from behind to see off Wolves.

Howe said: “I thought the performance was one of two halves for us. We were disappointing in the first half, slow to get going and a little negative with our passing.

"We were a little too far off them and not as competitive as we usually are. It took us until half-time to re-jig a couple of things and then we came out a lot stronger in the second half.

“The pleasing thing was that even before the first sending off, I thought we had been the better team in the second half. We came out with renewed vigour and looked like we were going to have a good half.

“We put them under pressure because we knew they hadn’t won for a while. The first sending off was a key moment in the game but I was a lot happier with how we started the second half and our intent.

“We have seen ourselves this season that it is very difficult to play against 10 men. The temptation is that because you are against the clock, you end up putting long balls into the box or crossing too early and almost falling into a trap of trying to score with every touch.

“Thankfully, we didn’t do that. We were very patient, we kept the ball, we kept moving and asking questions of their defence and structure. We got our reward with two really well worked goals and a dominant performance against 10 men. We dominated the ball, as you would expect us to do, but it still wasn’t easy.”

Howe added: “I was really pleased with the win. It is a very difficult league to win consistently and to stay away from defeats. We are 11 unbeaten, including a cup game, and that is a real achievement, especially when you consider before that run we had struggled to win games.

“We are enjoying where we are, we are enjoying the run and want to keep it going for as long as we can. There is a really good atmosphere in the changing room and we are looking forward to the games. Hopefully, we can stay in this position for a little longer.”