Eddie Howe praised the strength of his squad as his much-changed AFC Bournemouth side ran out 5-1 winners at Championship rivals Rotherham United.
Bournemouth, who made eight changes, put in a dominant second half display to coast into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Two second-half goals from Yann Kermorgant and strikes from Junior Stanislas, Ryan Fraser and Shaun MacDonald rendered Richard Brindley’s opener after 10 minutes little consolation for Rotherham.
Howe said the displays from his fringe players was the most pleasing aspect of the result.
He said: “I think it underlined the strength in our squad. 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 cup run. He added: “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. 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 fumed at the display and says new signings will be brought in.
He said: “Some of the defending was absolutely awful and (goalkeeper) Adam Collin got no protection at all.
“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.
“That’s not been like we’ve been in the five or six games. 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.”
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