EDDIE Howe sounded out a defiant message ahead of Cherries’ first cup tie of the season and insisted he would not “bow to pressure from anybody” regarding his team selection.

Boss Howe is expected to make a raft of changes when Cherries visit Birmingham City in the second round of the Carabao Cup tonight (7.45pm).

Howe received criticism in some quarters for his rotation policy last season as Cherries exited both the League Cup and the FA Cup at the third round stage.

However, while plotting Cherries’ rise from the depths of League One to the Premier League, it is an approach Howe has always taken with cup competitions.

And when they won promotion to the top flight in 2015, Cherries also reached the quarter-final of the League Cup – the best run in the club’s history.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “I think it is a great competition if, for your club, you manage it as you want to.

“I am certainly not going to bow to pressure from anybody to do anything other than what is right for us.

“When I say that, what I mean is developing young players, giving an opportunity to our squad and making sure everyone is ready to play. All these things are massive for us.

“Everyone cries out in this country for more chances for young players to play and, when you do play them and rotate the team, you get criticised for it.

“Sometimes, when you are in this seat, you are in a no-win situation but I will do what is right for Bournemouth and take the consequences.”

Despite going out of both cups early last season, Howe went on to guide Cherries to ninth in the Premier League, the highest finishing position in the club’s history.

Asked whether he felt his decision had been vindicated, Howe replied: “I am not really looking for vindication. I will leave that to everybody else.

“We have done what we think is right, step by step, for the club.

“When you enter a cup competition, you want to do well for the supporters, the club and the team and you want to go as far as you can.

“The fact I am making changes doesn’t change that and we still want those things.

“You are trying to manage your squad in a productive way so everyone feels like they have had an opportunity to play and everyone is ready to play when called upon for the Premier League, which, ultimately – and I am not going to disguise it – is our priority.

“We still want to do well in the cup competitions and we want to start well against Birmingham if we can.”