EDDIE Howe described as "impressive" West Ham boss Slaven Bilic – the man he outwitted at Upton Park last season.

Cherries recorded their first victory in the top flight 12 months ago when Callum Wilson's hat-trick and Marc Pugh's effort handed the visitors a 4-3 win.

The result saw West Ham condemned to their second defeat in as many Premier League games but after that point Bilic's men never looked back.

The Hammers eventually qualified for the Europa League with a seventh-placed finish, defeating Cherries 3-1 in the return clash on the way.

Reflecting on the impact of former Croatia boss Bilic, Howe told the Daily Echo: “I think he’s an impressive character and an impressive guy. He’s got really good knowledge and good experiences of different leagues.

"His teams play good football – you can see they are high on individual quality but they also play as a team which is a true testament to any manager.”

Arguably West Ham's top performer last term was Dimitri Payet, who scored a stunning free-kick in his team's win at Vitality Stadium.

The France international came on as a second-half substitute in the Hammers' late defeat to Chelsea on Monday.

Howe added: He’s got obvious quality. You look at what he did against us last year in the home game.

“He did very well in the Euros as well for his country so we’re in no doubt that they have got individual players that can hurt us if we allow them to.”