BOSS Eddie Howe is targeting further improvement as he prepares Cherries for a second season in the Premier League.

Howe guided Cherries to safety in their maiden campaign in the top flight, the club finishing 16th – five points clear of the relegation zone.

Since taking the reins for the first time on New Year's Day 2009, Howe has seen Cherries make progress every season.

His first success was plotting the Greatest Escape when Cherries preserved their Football League status in 2008-09 having been seven points adrift when he took charge.

And after masterminding promotion to League One the following season, Howe returned from his spell at Burnley to take Cherries into the Championship in 2013-14.

They finished 10th in their first season back in the second tier before memorably claiming the title on a dramatic final day of the 2014-15 season.

Howe, asked by the Daily Echo how far he felt he could take the club, replied: “I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know what the future holds, nobody does.

“All I will say is that everybody on the coaching staff will go away in the summer and try to come back better.

"I hope the players will come back better as well and we can look to improve next season.

“That has always been my way of working. When we finished 10th in the Championship, I wanted to improve on that and we ended up winning the league the following season. We would like to improve next season.”