CARETAKER boss Jonathan Woodgate hailed the sportsmanship shown by Cherries after it was revealed they had indicated an ineligible player in Burnley’s starting XI.

Erik Pieters was initially included in the Clarets’ line-up for the FA Cup fifth-round clash, despite collecting bookings in the previous two rounds of the competition, which earned the Dutch full-back a one-match suspension.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche revealed post-match it had been a member of Cherries’ staff who spotted the banned player in the starting XI.

Dyche said: “It was just a simple admin error. We have people who keep an eye on situations, unfortunately it got away from that moment where someone found clarity.

“The rules have changed this year with the booking situation and the number of games in the FA Cup. It was just a clear oversight.

“To be fair to Bournemouth, they flagged it and mentioned it, so credit to them for a bit of gentlemanly conduct.

“We jumped on it straight away and people at our club held their hands up in the right slots.”

Without Pieters, Burnley went on to lose 2-0 thanks to goals from Sam Surridge and Junior Stanislas.

Giving his take on the incident, Woodgate told the Daily Echo: “I heard exactly the same. Fair play to the staff who did it and told Burnley.

“Listen, we all want a fair game, so I thought it was important we did that.

“It’s good sportsmanship at the end of the day.”

Cherries are now in the hat for Thursday’s quarter-final draw, having overcome Oldham, Crawley and the Clarets.