CARETAKER boss Jonathan Woodgate praised Cherries' character to force a winner against Birmingham City, describing the victory as "a massive statement for the dressing room".

Cherries trailed 1-0 to the Blues before going 2-1 ahead through goals Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Wilshere.

Birmingham battled back, equalising thanks to Scott Hogan's second of the afternoon, before Philip Billing turned in in the 77th minute to earn a 3-2 win.

"I just wanted to get three points, no matter how you get it," said Woodgate.

"In the situation we’ve been in with four losses on the spin, you just need the win. I thought at times we could’ve been a bit naïve. We made a couple of silly errors early on, individual mistakes, but I thought at times when we passed it through the pitch, we looked quite good.

"It was a battle. It’s the Championship, it’s a tough league. They’re battling for their lives, Birmingham. I know what Aitor (Karanka) is like, I know how he sets his teams up.

"It’s always going to be a difficult game. On the form table I think they’re ninth away from home, I think they’ve got 19 points away from home.

"I thought we created chances where we could’ve won the game (earlier), especially in the second half.

"I'm over the moon. It’s been a really difficult week."

The game was strewn with defensive errors at both ends, particularly for Hogan's second goal of the afternoon as he was allowed a free header six yards out.

And Woodgate, a former England and Real Madrid centre-back, said he had already had a conversation with those concerned.

"I’ve spoken to a couple of the players already and just passed my experience on, what they should do in that moment. And they totally agree with me," said Woodgate.

"You can’t give goals away like that, especially in this league.

"When people make individual errors it’s hard to do anything really about it from my point of view, it’s just concentration levels.

"The most important thing I’m really pleased about is the character of the team.

"The run they’ve been on and going 1-0 down, their shoulders could’ve slumped, but they didn’t. They kept on going and that’s what I was really pleased about.

"To go 2-1 up, back to 2-2 and I thought they were looking quite strong. For us to get the third goal was really important and a massive statement for the dressing room really."