BOSS Eddie Howe believes his side’s endeavour to cover ground in the Premier League portrays the positive mentality in the squad.

In a recent release of statistics, Cherries were top of the pile for distance covered in the top flight.

And the Cherries manager believes his side’s tireless approach is a “good sign”.

Asked about the distance figures, Howe told the Daily Echo: “That was a nice thing for us to see. I think it is a really good marker for where you are mentally as a team.

“When we were struggling at the start of the season, these were the things you looked for to see signs within the team.

“You think ‘is the team giving its best? Is the team fighting for every ball?’ because, when we first got into the Premier League, we were well aware we had to fight and scrap for anything we could get.

“I think it was a good sign for us. It was not the be all and end all, you need the quality and to work out why you aren’t winning games.

“But in terms of physical effort with running, which is a key part of football, there is a reason why we are doing well in that.

“You look at the athletes in most teams in the Premier League or the genetic make-up of the players in a lot of the teams and we are outrunning them.”

Asked how much Cherries looked into the statistic, Howe replied: “Our team take real interest in our physical outputs in every game.

“We have people devoted to those stats and to how that transfers to our training load – it gets quite scientific from that point on.”

Although the science suggests his side are putting in the hard yards at present, the Cherries boss is not prepared to rest on his laurels.

He added: “My method is when you are not doing so well, you have to work hard to re-find whatever was missing.

“When you are doing well, you have to work hard to make sure you don’t get complacent.

“There is no escape from the habits and the basics you need to produce a successful team.

“We never shy away from the fact we do work our players hard and it is always for the benefit of the team.”