SAM Surridge came back to haunt his former club, snatching a late equaliser as Nottingham Forest earned a share of the spoils against Cherries.

Gary O’Neil’s men looked set to end their losing run with victory, thanks to Jaidon Anthony’s first-half opener following good work by debutant Dango Ouattara.

However, substitute Surridge had other ideas, slotting home against the club where he was raised with seven minutes to play, his first ever strike in the Premier League, to earn a 1-1 draw.

The point does at least end Cherries’ run of six straight defeats in all competitions, but sees them slip into the relegation zone for the first time this season.

O’Neil made big changes to the side which lost at Brentford last time out, five in all.

Ouattara was drafted straight into Cherries’ XI, after joining the club from FC Lorient earlier this week.

The 20-year-old winger took the place of Philip Billing, who missed out altogether, with Ryan Christie moving into a central role.

The other changes saw centre-back duo Chris Mepham and Marcos Senesi both drop out of the side, replaced by Jack Stephens and Jordan Zemura. Meanwhile, Joe Rothwell came in for his first ever Premier League start, taking the spot of injured Lewis Cook.

Adam Smith returned from suspension, coming in for Jack Stacey at right-back.

Nottingham Forest handed a debut to Chris Wood, following his arrival on loan from Newcastle United, while former Cherries duo Steve Cook and Surridge were among the substitutes.

Neto was the first keeper called into action, diving to his right to claw away Brennan Johnson’s effort.

Ouattara then showed his first glimpse of pace, bursting down the right flank before trying to beat Wayne Hennessey from a tight angle, despite Anthony being well-placed in the centre.

Anthony then saw a low effort deflected wide, before Forest thought they had taken the lead. Set pieces appeared to be the scourge of Cherries again as Ryan Yates nodded in, but Willy Boly was deemed offside in the build-up after a VAR check.

An entertaining first half then saw Cherries squander their clearance opening, Zemura crossing for Kieffer Moore who planted a header over the crossbar, unmarked.

But the hosts did not have to wait much longer to get their noses in front. New signing Ouattara had a big role to play, getting free down the right and crossing low for Anthony, who held off Joe Worrall and finished well, across goal into the bottom corner. It was Cherries’ first Premier League goal in over 400 minutes of action, since Anthony netted against Everton back in November.

Ouattara then showed his defensive capabilities, producing a vital headed clearance to deny Yates an equaliser, before Worrall stayed strong to block Zemura’s goalbound effort on the line at the other end.

Zemura continued to impress going forwards, standing up a cross for Christie just before half-time, the Scot seeing his effort bounce agonisingly wide.

Chances were at a premium early in the second half, with Moore firing a snapshot wide at one end, before Neto got down to thwart Johnson’s effort.

Both managers turned to their benches with 15 minutes to play, Ben Pearson introduced for Cherries and Surridge one of three players to come on for Forest.

Cherries were throwing their bodies on the line, looking to see out the win, but were pegged back with five minutes to play.

Johnson’s low ball across the face of goal was prodded in at the back post by Surridge, who ran off Smith to slot home. The goal counted after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

O’Neil threw on Dembele for the closing stages, but neither side could force a winner.

Cherries: Neto; A Smith, Stephens, Kelly, Zemura; Lerma, Rothwell (Pearson, 75); Ouattara, Christie (Dembele, 88), Anthony; Moore.

Unused subs: Mepham, Senesi, Stacey, Sadi, Pollock, Adu-Adjei, Travers (g/k).

Booked: Kelly.

Nottingham Forest: Hennessey; Aurier (Williams, 75), Worrall, Boly (McKenna, 75), Lodi; Yates (Danilo, 44), Freuler, Mangala (Scarpa, 60); Gibbs-White; Johnson, Wood (Surridge, 75).

Unused subs: Cook, Colback, Lingard, J Smith (g/k).

Booked: Worrall, Scarpa.

Referee: Andrew Madley.

VAR: Paul Tierney.