ANDONI Iraola says he was “really surprised” by how many Cherries fans made the trip to Stamford Bridge for the final game of the Premier League season.

More than 3,000 supporters packed out the away end as Cherries were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea on Sunday.

It took the overall number of unique supporters to attend an away Cherries Premier League match this season to 8,184, a 26 per cent rise on 2022-23.

Asked what his final message was to the fans heading into the summer break, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “I think they have been amazing, especially on Sunday, I was really surprised, the amount of fans we had there.

“Both stands and they were really pushing a lot.

“Even when we were losing, they kept pushing the team and I think they have valued and appreciated the effort of the players.

“We wanted to give them a result or something, but I think with their support, we are always stronger and it has been like this all season.”