Eddie Howe warns his Bournemouth players of Jermain Defoe's threat
Eddie Howe has hailed Jermain Defoe as the best finisher he has ever seen.
The Bournemouth manager played alongside the Sunderland striker for the Cherries during the 2000-01 season, while Defoe was on loan from West Ham.
Defoe scored 19 times in what was his only season at the then-Division Two club and thereafter established himself in the Premier League and at international level with England.
Howe, an impressive central defender at his peak, played alongside and against Defoe in training, and as his team prepare to host Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday he has warned them of the striker's potential threat.
"He is the best finisher of a ball I've ever seen," Howe said. "We will have to keep him quiet, that will make the difference on Saturday.
"We are under no illusions that these games are huge for us. They could set a platform for the rest our season. We know that.
"I don't think we are looking at Sunderland. At this stage the league table is irrelevant. We just want to win.
"They were unlucky to lose to Tottenham last week. They have a number of good players and a strong manager. They will pose a big threat on Saturday."
Bournemouth's B#4million summer signing Glenn Murray could make his full debut in the clash.
The striker came off the bench in last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Norwich, a result which is likely to lead to Howe making changes to his team.
Charlie Daniels is in contention to return having recovered from a knee injury, but Bournemouth remain without summer signings Christian Atsu, Max Gradel and Tyrone Mings, the latter two being long-term absentees.
Meanwhile, Dick Advocaat admits he does not care how Sunderland play in the game as long as they win.
The Black Cats head for the Vitality Stadium still awaiting their first Barclays Premier league victory of the season, but buoyed by a significantly better performance in last weekend's 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham.
Head coach Advocaat is confident there is a lot more to come from a team which took the game to Spurs for long periods and was unfortunate to emerge defeated after twice hitting the woodwork.
However, the Dutchman, who celebrates his 68th birthday later this month, will be happy with three points from the clash with the Cherries in whatever fashion they are delivered.
He said: "I have always said it doesn't matter how you play, I always go for three points. It doesn't matter how.
"Everybody has to realise that we have had a really, really difficult time because we brought players in late, and you see our line-up, six or seven players were out of contract, so we need more time for them to gel with each other more than normal.
"If we had started with this squad in the beginning, then everything would have been much easier than now."
The likes of Fabio Borini and Ola Toivonen are among those who headed for Wearside as the transfer window drew to a close, and the Sweden international in particular has made an impressive impact during his first few weeks in England.
They will be joined for the first time by on-loan Spurs defender DeAndre Yedlin, who was ineligible to play against his parent club on Sunday, and fit-again midfielder Adam Johnson.
The England international has not played since he dislocated a shoulder during the opening week of the season.
Source: PAR
