JACK Simpson hopes he has presented a compelling argument to Cherries boss Eddie Howe that he is ready for regular Premier League action.

Centre-half Simpson made his second appearance in the top flight on Saturday when he featured in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

The 22-year-old, whose only previous league outing had come away to Pep Guardiola’s side in December 2017, was praised by Howe for his performance at Vitality Stadium.

Simpson told the Daily Echo: “I’d love to be the future of the club. But there is still a lot of hard work, preparation and training to be done and I still need to work on things.

“Hopefully, I can push on and become a regular.

“I want to play in the Premier League as much as possible but we will have to wait and see what happens between now and the end of the season.

“I was pleased with my performance against Manchester City and I’d like to think I showed I am more than ready to play in the Premier League.”

Simpson operated in a central defensive trio alongside Nathan Ake and January signing Chris Mepham.

Dutch international Ake is the most experienced of the three at 24 years old while Mepham is younger than Simpson at 21.

“I’ve played in a few big names now so I wasn’t overwhelmed,” said Simpson.

“Me, Nath and Meps were all very good with each other and helped each other though the game.

“You can’t see anyone as a senior, you have to see yourself as ready to play and have to help them when they help you.

“(Manchester City’s attackers) are on another level. Their movement and decision-making are so sharp but you want to test yourself against the best and they are the best. That’s who I want to play against.”

Simpson, who made his England under-21s debut in November, has made 10 appearances for Cherries.

Six of those have come this season, four in the run to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and one in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton.

Discussing further the display against City in the wake of the 5-1 defeat to Arsenal, Simpson said: “Everyone was very focused and we executed the game plan very well and should be proud of the performance.

“We all gave 100 per cent. I feel we earned our respect back as a group. We made a lot of clearances and were very aggressive when they came into our half.

“We can be proud to have kept them down to minimal chances – only three or four good ones which I can remember.

“We gave it a good go and were maybe unfortunate not to come away with a draw.”