FA Cup: Eddie Howe says Bournemouth's win at Rotherham demonstrates strength of squad

Eddie Howe praised the strength of his squad as his much-changed Bournemouth side ran out 5-1 winners away to Championship rivals Rotherham in the FA Cup.

Bournemouth, who made eight changes, put in a dominant second-half display at Rotherham's New York Stadium to coast into the fourth round on Saturday.

An equaliser from Shaun MacDonald rendered Richard Brindley's opener after 10 minutes little consolation for Rotherham, who were punished by second-half strikes from Junior Stanislas and Ryan Fraser before a further two from Yann Kermorgant.

Howe said the performance of his fringe players was the most pleasing aspect of the result.

"I think it underlined the strength in our squad," said Howe. "It was a slightly scrappy first half where we weren't at our best early in the game but the lads turned on the style in the second half.

"It was a really enjoyable game to watch and we were clinical in front of goal. We're very pleased.

"A lot of the players haven't had the football that they would want. I thought once we scored our first goal it gave us the confidence to go on and in the second half we played with real freedom."

Howe is hopeful that his squad is big enough to maintain their fine league form as well as a successful cup run.

"We have always maintained that we have a very strong group of players and we believe everyone in our squad is big enough to come in and play. They highlighted that," he added.

"The beauty of our squad is we have everyone pushing each other onto hopefully greater performances because nobody can rest on their laurels.

"You don't want your team picking itself. You want to have decisions to make and as we move forward into a key part of the season that will only serve us well."

Rotherham assistant manager Paul Raynor was left fuming at the result and had opposite thoughts on his side's display, as he said that new signings would be brought in.

"Some of the defending was absolutely awful and (goalkeeper) Adam Collin got no protection at all," he said.

"You have to take defeats from time to time but the manner of the performance in the second half was not something we're used to seeing. It was a particularly bad day at the office.

"I think Bournemouth are up there with the best teams we've faced this season. They are playing well and with confidence.

"We've lost some good players in Tom Lawrence, Emmanuel Ledesma and Scott Wootton and we will learn from this. We have had to take bad defeats on the chin and bounce back.

"We will make changes. We will be better. We will improve. The calls are already in and we are hoping for positive feedback.

"We have identified the type of player we want to bring into the football club. They are young and hungry."