BOSS Eddie Howe was delighted to see Cherries rekindle their free-flowing style as they powered to their biggest away Premier League victory.

Cherries surged past the 40-point mark in the division with a 5-0 win at Brighton thanks to goals from Dan Gosling, Ryan Fraser, David Brooks, Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas.

The triumph was the Dorset club’s 12th from 34 league contests and put them 13 points above Cardiff in 18th.

Manager Howe admitted he had been hurt by a lack of “clear philosophy” during a run which saw just one win in nine games ahead of kick-off.

But the boss admitted he was pleased to see his side back to their fluent best as they outclassed the Seagulls, who had Anthony Knockaert sent off on 68 minutes.

Asked whether his side has rediscovered their identity, Howe told the Daily Echo: “Yes, I think so. We questioned it internally during the past few games with what we wanted to represent, how we wanted to play and every team needs constant reminders.

“You need to work towards that every single day.

“We did a lot of good work to try to get the team back in that mindset and it paid dividends.

“First and foremost, you have to defend right and I think we did, we protected our goal really well and then the attacking play could come out.

“It was trademark us and the style of play returned. The first goal was a great team goal and it was great to see Dan Gosling score after a long period.

“Once we got that first goal I think you saw a different us in the second half. We were a much more confident, cohesive unit and we scored some great goals.

“In the second half we gelled, linked really well around the box and showed some real quality. I will enjoy watching them back.

“I’d like to dedicate this to everyone connected with the club. The supporters who have travelled the length and breadth of the country not to always see what they wanted to see this season. They got their reward.”

Knockaert was given his marching orders by referee Kevin Friend after a reckless late lunge on Adam Smith.

The tackle sparked a reaction from a number of Cherries players, with BBC pundit Dion Dublin claiming the challenge could have been “career-ending”.

Giving his take on the incident, Howe said: “I don’t think Anthony has meant to hurt Adam. It’s just one of those things where he has gone in late and Adam’s momentum has probably made the tackle look worse than it was meant to be.

“Thankfully from the tackle, Adam got up and he seemed fine. From that moment onwards, what pleased me most was the mentality of the group.

“We went for more goals, didn’t go negative and it was a really enjoyable end to the game.”