PHILIP Billing has heaped praise on his Cherries teammate Illia Zabarnyi, highlighting the Ukrainian as “unbelievable” in recent weeks.

The Danish international also believes that Zabarnyi will go far in the game if he continues to focus and work hard for Cherries.

Touted as one of the best defensive talents in Europe when Cherries paid a reported £24million to sign the centre-back from Dynamo Kyiv in January 2023, Zabarnyi has come into his own in recent weeks.

A mainstay in the team under Andoni Iraola, Zabarnyi has missed just 90 minutes of football this season for Cherries, missing the 3-2 victory over Swansea City in the EFL Cup back in August.

As such, the 21-year-old has been a key part of the side that recorded back-to-back clean sheets at Crystal Palace and Manchester United, with some colossal displays at the back.

That has not gone unnoticed by Billing, who has largely been watching on from the bench, before coming on to great impact against Crystal Palace and Manchester United with an assist and a goal.

Despite being out of the starting XI in recent weeks, Billing was keen to share the love for his fellow players, reeling off a whole list of standout performers before conceding that everyone in the team deserved praise.

Asked how enjoyable he found Iraola’s new style of play, the Dane told the Daily Echo: “I think you can see that now how effective it is.

“So it's just getting the hang of it, and I think, as you can see, everybody is starting to.

“The press is starting to click and the counter is looking dangerous.

“I think pretty much everything, every time we’re going forward and you have players that are performing very well at the minute, and so on.

“Antoine (Semenyo), Ry (Ryan Christie), Lewis (Cook) is playing well.

“Zaba (Illia Zabarnyi) - I’ve got to give him a big shout out as well.

"I think he's been unbelievable the last couple of games, for a young centre-back as well.

“Dom (Solanke) as well, Tavs (Marcus Tavernier) - I can keep going. Everybody's doing well.”

Despite boasting numerous caps for Ukraine and winning both the league and cup with childhood club Dynamo Kyiv, Zabarnyi endured an inauspicious start to life on the south coast.

“It's been tough for him at the start as well,” Billing continued when discussing the centre-back.

“But like I said, he's young and I think a lot of people are quick to jump in on players back these days.

“But you've got to remember he's a young player and especially a young centre-back.

“You gotta give him time.

“And I think he's just getting better every game really.

“So he's just got to keep working hard and keep doing what he's doing because I think he can go a long way.

“His kind of centre-backs are hard to find these days.”