STEVE Cook hailed the “mental strength” of fit-again star Arnaut Danjuma, adding “he’s got a lot of potential”.

The Dutch international arrived at Cherries from Club Brugge in the summer for a fee of around £13.7million, but picked up a foot injury in his only pre-season outing against Lyon.

That ruled Danjuma out of action until last week’s Carabao Cup defeat at Burton Albion, where he played close to half an hour as a substitute.

The winger again began on the bench for Saturday’s clash against West Ham United at Vitality Stadium and came on for his Premier League debut on 78 minutes, replacing Harry Wilson in the 2-2 draw.

Discussing the return to action of Danjuma, Cook told the Daily Echo: “I’m really pleased for him. He’s obviously come in and got injured in his first game and it’s not easy when you’re a new player, especially when you’re getting injured.

“He’s shown good mental strength and I think he’s got a lot to give. It shows how good our squad is when we’re getting players back, it’s nice.

“He’s a sharp boy. He’s only young as well, so he’s got a lot of potential for us.”

The stand-in skipper added: “We’ve got great wingers at the club. We’ve got obviously Brooksy (David Brooks) coming back as well and Junior (Stanislas).

“When we’ve got them back it’s a hell of a headache for the manager, so it’s pleasing.”

Danjuma showed good glimpses in his outings against Burton and West Ham and Howe was pleased with what he saw from his new recruit.

The Cherries boss said: “I thought he did well against Burton in midweek, so I think this (bringing him on against West Ham) was a nice thing to do. At a time in the game where we needed some fresh legs and fresh impetus, I thought he did well.

“I was very pleased and there’s more to come as well.

“We haven’t seen much of him on the training pitch because as soon as he came he played that game in pre-season and picked up the injury.

“Even since he’s come back we haven’t seen a great deal of him on the training pitch, but he’s a confident boy. He believes in himself and believes he can make the difference.

“We are going to have to build his game time up slowly with the injury he had, but Saturday was a good show for him.”

Having initially moved into a hotel following his arrival from Belgium, Danjuma is now settling into his own surroundings having found a place to live.

And Howe believes that will help the 22-year-old settle into the area.

He said: “I think it means you feel more at home and this is your permanent place.

“Staying in a hotel is great for a short period of time, but you need that base to close the door and it’s all your own.

“You can start to develop friendships around the local area. That’s going to be important for him, so he fully integrates properly.”