GOALSCORER Philip Billing was proud of the way Cherries “worked their socks off” as they moved out of the Premier League bottom three with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

The all-action midfielder struck the opener after 37 minutes at Vitality Stadium – with Nathan Ake doubling the advantage before the interval.

Cherries then had Jefferson Lerma sent off for a second booking and – despite Mbwana Samatta scoring 20 minutes from time for Villa – the hosts held firm for a crucial triumph.

Billing told afcbTV: “It’s very nice to help the team and get my first goal at Vitality Stadium in the Premier League for Bournemouth.

“More importantly it’s just the win and the three points to be honest.

“The red card changed it a bit – it meant we had to work even harder, especially in midfield. But I thought everybody worked their socks off.

“It was 10 men versus 11 and we do a lot of that in training where we are one man down and we have to make sure a team don’t get through.

“I think we showed how good we can be.”

He added: “Everybody put in a graft and we worked so hard, even with 10 men I feel like they found it hard to get through us.

“Obviously they had a couple of chances and scored for 2-1 but I thought we defended well and we looked dangerous – especially in the first half with the way we pressed.

“It was a very energetic performance and that’s what we need to keep going.”

Cherries are now 16th in the top flight. They make the trip to Sheffield United on Sunday (2pm).