Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe calls for patience

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has called for patience and support ahead of his side's trip to face Leeds United.

The Cherries were beaten 3-1 by Blackburn at Dean Court on Saturday and head to Elland Road on Tuesday.

Howe says the club, who were promoted to the Championship in the summer, should be enjoying such matches.

"The players have done very well so far," Howe told BBC Radio Solent. "We are 10th, it's early days and we should not forget how well we've done."

He added: "I keep repeating myself but these are great days for the club and we should be enjoying it. We shouldn't be too hard on the players.

"It's a very young squad who are eager to learn and improve and do the club proud and we should never forget that and always given them our support."

The Cherries follow their visit to Leeds with the arrival of Millwall on Saturday before taking on Nottingham Forest and Leicester.

And Howe admitted it is a run of games in which his side are going to be fully tested.

"No-one said it was going to be easy and that we were going to win every game," he said.

"We are going to have defeats, knock-backs and setbacks and that is when we need to batten down the hatches and try and pick up some points.

"This is a totally new experience for this group of players so in no way should be negative, as that destroys teams. We need to give them support."