EDDIE Howe believes “exemplary” Andrew Surman has been the perfect example for players of how to respond to being left out of the starting XI, adding: “He’s been an absolutely massive player for us”.

Surman was a regular fixture of the Cherries team upon first joining the club, initially on loan, from Norwich City in 2013.

The midfielder was one of just three players to play every minute of Premier League action in Cherries’ first season in the top flight in 2015-16. Only Kasper Schmeichel and Wes Morgan of champions Leicester also completed the full 3,420 minutes.

But despite featuring more than 150 times in total for Cherries, Surman has been forced to settle for a place on the bench this campaign with Jefferson Lerma, Philip Billing and Lewis Cook commanding the starting central midfield berths in the Premier League.

The 33-year-old has started just twice in 2019-20, both in the Carabao Cup, featuring for a further 57 minutes across three Premier League cameo appearances. He was an unused substitute during Saturday’s 0-0 draw with his former club Norwich.

Quoted in the Eastern Daily Press last week, Surman admitted his lack of game time for Cherries this season had been “tough to deal with mentally”.

But boss Howe was keen to praise the attitude shown by the South Africa-born talent.

“I think if you asked any player who is not playing as regularly as they would want to, it is mentally a challenge,” Howe told the Daily Echo.

“I think if you get that mental challenge right, if you understand the situation and concentrate then on your training performances and how you conduct yourself around the pitch and wait for your opportunity, then when it comes you’ll be in a position to take it.

“I think Andrew has been exemplary in that respect. He’s been a really good role model for everyone else to look at and how you handle yourself when you’re not in the team.”

Former Southampton man Surman joined Cherries from the Canaries on a permanent basis for a fee of around £500,000 in 2014.

And having helped the club win promotion from the Championship as well as playing a key role in keeping Cherries in the Premier League ever since, Surman’s importance is not lost on Howe.

“He’s been an absolutely massive player for us, huge player,” said the boss.

“People often ask me to rank players of importance or rank your signings that you’ve made historically and it’s an impossible thing to do.

“But Andrew Surman, in terms of importance, would be right up there.

“In terms of what he’s given the club over many, many years and it’s not just on the pitch with Andrew, what you see. It’s behind the scenes. An incredible guy.”

While top-flight minutes have been hard to come by, Surman did play a big part in one of Cherries’ three league wins this season, coming on at half-time in the 2-1 success at Aston Villa in August. It marked Surman’s first competitive appearance in five months.

“He picked up a nasty calf injury (in March), a strain that he picked up in training, but it was a bad one,” explained Howe.

“So he’s done well to recover from that and come back so impressively this season.

“From my perspective, I know he’s ready if we need him to come in and do a really good job for the team.”