A treasured point

Eddie Howe said the draw at Leicester was a huge point and while he was more than happy to settle for that at the end of the game, he might have felt differently at many moments during the first half. The Cherries continue to start games well and even while they have not managed to get a lead in the last three games they are staying competitive.

Eddie only has his eyes on collecting more points.

Such determination to win points is now built into the squad. Going up to Leicester would have been seen as a real problem game a couple of months ago but the team went there feeling that they could get something. Taking points off the top teams is something that the Cherries need to do to make progress in the table as other teams are doing it as well.

The sending off made the point at Leicester a special point though. "It was a treasured point," said Eddie Howe. You can see why that is so when Leicester threw just about everything they could at the 10 men of AFCB. I felt that the substitution to bring Sylvain Distin on was something that Eddie had to do and with Arter on a yellow card it was an easy decision to make with Francis off the pitch.

It is not often that Jamie Vardy also goes a game without scoring but his barren spell continued against AFCB. That is credit not just to the back four and Artur Boruc but to the whole team that defended from the front. Mahrez and Kante had plenty of the ball as well but they were forced wide and prevented from getting shots off in the box too often. There are signs that the Cherries defence is tighter than it has been and that can only be good going forward.

There are some pictures of the King Power stadium up on Match Day Gallery.