BENIK Afobe watched strike partner Joshua King plunder his maiden Premier League hat-trick – and then admitted he could have had one as well.

Afobe saw a number of presentable chances go begging and had a tamely-struck first-half penalty saved by West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph during yesterday's 3-2 victory.

King, who had earlier put wide Cherries’ first spot-kick, settled in the hosts’ favour an enthralling contest when he completed his finely-taken treble in stoppage-time.

Afobe told the Daily Echo: “Whoever takes penalties, it happens and it is about how you come back from it. You have to show courage and we did.

“Kingy missed the first one so, being the other centre-forward on the pitch, I thought I would step up. I waited for the goalkeeper to dive but he didn’t.

“It was unfortunate but we had a lot of other chances and would have regretted it if we hadn’t come home with the three points. To be honest, on another day, I could have had a hat-trick as well.”

Afobe, who has netted three times this season, added: “We just need to build on this win. We have 10 games left and want to get as many wins as possible to stay up.

“We had to show courage, desire and bravery and forget about the penalties. It didn’t change anything for us. Our main goal was always to get the three points and we did.”

King took his tally to eight goals in his past seven games as Cherries ended an eight-match winless run in the Premier League.