Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil ready for ‘real test’ vs Brighton – ‘they are a fantastic team’

AFC Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil expects a “real test” against Brighton but thinks back-to-back home wins have boosted belief in his squad.

battled back from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 on Saturday afternoon to move out of the relegation zone in the Premier League.

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Brighton go into the midweek fixtures sixth in the Premier League table and O’Neil is aware that they will prove tough opposition.

“We’re in a decent spot and the lads are enjoying it, but there’s a big test coming in just over 24 hours,” he said on the club website.

“Brighton are a fantastic team, so it’s a real test, especially with the quick turnaround.

“There’s not too much time, only a day really, to prep the lads for what is a complicated task against what is a very good side.”

The win against Fulham came two weeks after a memorable victory over Liverpool and lifted Bournemouth a point clear of the drop zone.

“The belief was shown from 30 minutes onwards in the Fulham game – that belief has always been there,” O’Neil said.

“Of course some positive results and the lads being rewarded for some of their good work have helped.

“We’re now looking forward to two more very big games this week.”

Bournemouth follow their meeting with Brighton with a trip to fellow strugglers Leicester at the weekend.

Marcus Tavernier came off the bench to score against Fulham, but O’Neill sounded a note of caution over the 24-year-old’s fitness.

“We need to be realistic with where he is at the moment, but you saw the impact that he can have,” he said.

“We’ll try and make sure this time that now he’s back, he’ll stay back, because last time we had him back for one sub appearance, he started the next game and then we lost him.”

“It’s another crucial game,” De Zerbi said. “We lost two points against Brentford and we are playing very well.

“But if we want to reach our target, we have to improve in some details.”

Asked about the team’s objective, De Zerbi said: “To play next year in Europe.

“Which Europe, we don’t know, we will see. We want to play in the middle of the week next year – three games per week.”