BOSS Lee Bradbury watched Stephen Purches and Steve Fletcher revive Cherries’ fortunes at Walsall and told the super-subs: You made a difference.

Bradbury’s decision to introduce the duo from the bench paid dividends as Cherries produced a second-half comeback.

Trailing to goals from Jon Macken and Andy Butler, Bradbury replaced Steven Gregory with Purches at the interval. Utility man Purches played his part in central midfield as Cherries got back in the game with a Michael Symes penalty.

Veteran striker Fletcher then earned a 2-2 draw with an injury-time header – the result extending to 11 Cherries’ unbeaten away run in League One.

Bradbury told the Daily Echo: “Purchy has done well when he has played, especially away from home when we have played a 4-1-4-1 formation.

“It gives us an experienced head in there and I felt he gave us that in the second half.

“He got on the ball a bit and organised people off the ball, and when we had it.

“He is a good senior head to have around. He is a great professional and he made a difference.

“Fletch is a great targetman and a good guy to have around.

“I said to him to go and make a difference and he certainly did.

“It was important for me that we kept the unbeaten run going and it felt like a massive point for us. It was fantastic.”

Bradbury had been far from happy with Cherries’ display in the opening 45 minutes and felt they failed to match the Saddlers’ work rate.

But the Cherries manager was proud of his team’s comeback and praised their togetherness.

Bradbury said: “When I turned around when we scored, the whole bench was up celebrating – the lads that had come off and the lads that didn’t get on.

“It shows what a strong unit we are and how together we are as a squad. That was really pleasing for me to see.”

Bradbury also claimed Walsall had been fortunate to have 11 men on the field after keeper Jimmy Walker escaped with a yellow card when he handled the ball outside his penalty area in the early stages.

Rival manager Dean Smith said: “We were outstanding in the first half, playing well against a good team, and we fully deserved to go in at the break 2-0 up.

“Their penalty gave them belief but we had chances to kill off the game after that, which we were not able to take.”

Meanwhile, Bradbury confirmed negotiations were ongoing in his bid to sign a new striker from the Championship.

The Cherries boss says he is looking to recruit just one more player during the January transfer window. Bradbury also revealed Cherries had received no offers for any of their players so far this month.