EDDIE Howe handed Cherries youngsters Matt Butcher, Callum Buckley and Sam Surridge valuable matchday experience and admitted he had wanted to unleash the trio from the bench in the League Cup.

Midfielder Butcher, who had featured in Cherries’ second-round win at Hartlepool, was named on the team-sheet alongside striker Surridge and defender Buckley for the clash at Preston.

However, Howe turned to experienced trio Lee Tomlin, Marc Pugh and Dan Gosling – with Pugh netting in extra-time and during the penalty shootout as Cherries eventually booked a place in the fourth round.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Matt is there on merit and has trained with us regularly. I’ve got to be honest, the other boys haven’t been training with us regularly but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen, albeit on a limited basis.

“They came into the squad so we didn’t have to bring some of the other guys. A lot of the other lads gave such a huge effort on Saturday and we wanted to conserve their energy by leaving them at home.

“We were only ever going to put on three subs and it would have been nice to have got them on the pitch if the scoreline had been different.

“But as it was, we wanted to try to give ourselves more momentum by bringing on the experienced boys.”