SCOTT Parker hailed the display of Gavin Kilkenny as "different class" after the Irishman made an impressive return to the side.

Kilkenny featured regularly during the early weeks of the campaign, starting the first six matches in league and cup.

However, as senior players returned to the fray, the 21-year-old was squeezed out.

Following the 6-0 thumping at Norwich City in the Carabao Cup on August 24, Kilkenny found himself out of favour. He made the bench for the following game at Hull, but then did not even make the matchday squad for the subsequent six matches as Philip Billing, Ben Pearson and Jefferson Lerma were regularly the preferred trio, with Emiliano Marcondes in reserve on the bench.

But with Pearson suspended for the trip to Bristol City on Saturday, Kilkenny was restored to the starting XI, fresh off two outings for Republic of Ireland's under-21s during the international break.

Discussing Kilkenny's performance against the Robins, as Cherries cruised to a 2-0 victory at Ashton Gate, boss Parker said: "I thought he was different class. He is a boy who came in at the start of the season but has then had to watch from the stands with the way it’s gone.

"I trust Gavin, you see (on Saturday) he gets the nod, comes into the middle of the park and understands where the ball needs to go. Defensively, he’s disciplined, he was the glue."

With no Pearson, and Lerma only on the bench following his international exploits, Cherries' midfield three took on a new look with Ryan Christie playing deeper alongside Billing and Kilkenny.

But Parker was not concerned about the new combination, with Jack Stacey and Jamal Lowe also introduced into the team on Saturday.

"I never doubted that to be honest with you, I never doubted that whoever (came in), this team are drilled, they’ve worked hard from day dot when I came in here, they’ve worked tirelessly hard," explained Parker.

"They understand where they need to be, they know what they need to do, I trust every single one of them.

"Jamal Lowe, Jack Stacey and Gavin Kilkenny come into the team.

"Jack sets up the first, Gav was immense in there and Jamal gets a goal as well.

"It’s a luxury that I have but ultimately I have to give credit to those boys because they’ve got their chance and taken it, but you only take the chance with the work you put in prior to this.

"If you don’t want to work hard, you don’t want to keep yourself up to scratch when you get your chance, you can’t perform.

"The reason they’ve taken it is they have done that in the past few weeks."