Eddie Howe hails Bournemouth after Premier League survival

Eddie Howe believes the standard of clubs relegated from the Premier League this season underlines the size of Bournemouth's achievement in staying in the division.

Newcastle and Norwich dropped into the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday night as a consequence of Sunderland's 3-0 win over Everton, while Aston Villa's relegation was confirmed in mid-April.

Howe's side have never truly been drawn into the relegation scrap despite their smaller stature and budget, and the failure of those relegated clubs has made him realise what an astonishing feat the club has achieved.

"When you look at the size of the clubs that have gone down, their history, their fan base, the size of the grounds, it does bring home the size of the achievement that our players have done," Howe said.

"At the start of the season no one would have given us a chance of staying up and then we got the injuries and we had a choice which way we went from that moment.

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"We went and stood up and faced it and have done really well and I don't think we should underestimate what the players have done when you consider the pressure, it was nice not to be involved [in the relegation battle] in that moment."

Howe is also delighted that Bournemouth's final Premier League game of the season will have something riding on it when they travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United, where the hosts must win to stand any chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Louis van Gaal's side can still finish fourth if they win and Manchester City lose at Swansea, and Howe is keen for his side to be involved in a key issue on the final day.

"It is nice to be involved in a game that means something," Howe added. "The last few games have been difficult for us because we have not been a team that are used to not having that competitive edge.

"In the last few seasons there has always been something on every game and we have become very accustomed to it and embraced the pressure and relished it in some ways."

Meanwhile, Howe claims Jayden Stockley, who has signed a pre-contract deal with Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen, has been a victim of Bournemouth's success.

Stockley made his Cherries debut in 2009 at the age of 16, with the south coast club then playing in the fourth tier, but has been on loan at Sky Bet League Two side Exeter this season.

"We wish him well, he is a player that has been with us a long time and has probably been a victim of our success and the speed of our success," Howe said. "He is someone who we rated very highly when we were in the League Two days and we believed he had a big future here.

"But the team has moved forward, now we are in the Premier League it becomes more and more difficult for younger players to come through. We wish him well, it is a good move for him at Aberdeen and we hope he goes on to huge success."