MANAGER Eddie Howe knows he will need to keep his Cherries players “grounded” following their heroic exploits at Chelsea.

Victory at Stamford Bridge saw Cherries make it six games unbeaten in the Premier League, a run which also included memorable wins against Everton and Arsenal.

And having beaten three teams currently in the top nine, Cherries now face three in the bottom seven, starting with the visit of 16th-place Stoke City on Saturday.

Howe said: “That is the danger of the Premier League and the challenge for me is to make sure the players are grounded.

“We are very humble in victory and look forward to the next game, knowing how difficult it will be.

“The beauty of this league is that it is so unpredictable so we need to make sure we are very focused and prepared on what are three huge games for us.”

Howe added: “With every experience you have in this division, you learn and grow from it. That is not to say we are the finished article but I still feel we are improving.

“I thought we looked a strong team against Chelsea and didn’t see any weaknesses in us.

“We had a very good mentality going into the game, we were very brave in our approach and the players delivered a superb performance.”