By Betsefy
Caretaker boss Gary O’Neil has hailed the confidence within the Bournemouth squad after they overturned a deficit to beat Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
Having replaced Scott Parker on a temporary basis on the back of a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool, O’Neil had been expected to remain in charge for two matches at most.
However, the Englishman, a member of Parker’s backroom staff, has now taken charge of five games in the Premier League without suffering a defeat.
At one stage, it appeared that the Cherries would see their recent streak come to an end when Patson Daka gave the Foxes an early lead at the Vitality Stadium.
Despite trailing at the break, Bournemouth came from behind as goals from Philip Billing and Ryan Christie helped record a 2-1 triumph on the South coast.
Although he acknowledges that Bournemouth had to take risks during the second half, O’Neil talked up the belief within his crop of players as they moved into the top half of the standings.
Speaking to Match of the Day, O’Neil said: “The boys put in another top effort. It was harsh at half time to be 1-0 down as we’d played well and had big chances but got punished from the only real one Leicester had.
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“I told them we needed to believe and keep going. We tweaked a couple of things at half time to be slightly more aggressive. It went our way in the end and I am really pleased.
“I think the boys believe. I don’t think you can come back from two down at Nottingham Forest and 1-0 down to Leicester if you don’t believe. need to be sensible as newly-promoted team. We were slightly less sensible in the second half and it went our way.”
Bournemouth’s latest positive result came in front of likely new owner Bill Foley, who has allegedly signed all of the necessary paperwork ahead of a takeover.
While reports have indicated that he is against making any immediate changes in the dugout, O’Neil has insisted that he will continue to take one match at a time.
He added: “It’s a great first day for him and I’m sure he enjoyed it. The full focus for me though is on prepping for the next one.”
Bournemouth are next in action when they make the trip to West London to face Fulham on October 15.
