Howe: Taking it a step at a time

AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe will continue to lead his team one game at a time as the Cherries push for promotion to the Championship.

The Cherries fourth win in succession against Portsmouth closed the gap to Tranmere and Donaster who still hold the automatic promotion places and while Swindon’s draw against Hartlepool kept them in third place ahead of AFC Bournemouth, the top four sides in League One are now only separated by a single point.

The Cherries were forced to work hard for their victory against Portsmouth, the Cherries dominated possession with slick passing for the majority of the game, but only managed to break down Pompey during the second half.

Josh McQuoid’s good work down the right wing and decent cross fell to Lewis Grabban, who had time to pick his spot to open the scoring and then an excellent assist from Brett Pitman played Marc Pugh through to seal the three points.

Howe told BBC Radio Solent…

‘We prepared for it all week, we knew what type of game it would be, and full credit to Portsmouth because they came here with the game plan that we expected. Even though you know it’s coming it’s still difficult to conquer it and to break them down was difficult, I thought they defended really well.’

‘I thought Josh (McQuoid) played a really big part in it, and then Grabbs had a lot of time to wait and to pick his spot but he’s done that very well for us. A really important goal, that one.’

‘That’s good to know, good to hear (one point from top). We’re taking it a step at a time. It’s a big victory today – it was the same three points available today as it was last week and everyone had us down as a home banker and that’s never easy. We had a lot of pressure on us and I thought the players adapted very well to that.’

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