AFC Bournemouth travel to West Ham after Gary O'Neil's first defeat as interim manager. 

Since replacing Scott Parker, The Cherries, under O'Neil's stewardship, had been on an impressive unbeaten run, stemming to six games, including wins against Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.

Despite the run coming to an end on Wednesday night against South Coast neighbours, Southampton, the mood around Dean Court is still extremely upbeat.

  • Southampton

Bournemouth suffered their first defeat in seven on Wednesday but interestingly was the first time this season that they had more possession than their opponents.

O'Neil highlighted this during his relatively positive outlook on the game "It was a good performance. It was some of our best numbers this season. But we didn't get anything."

"The fans stuck with them all night last night, even though they were 1-0 down for 82 minutes, they stuck with them right till the end, because they could see what they were giving."

"We will continue to work hard, improve, be competitive and keep trying to put points on the board for the club."

  • Injuries

O'Neil confirmed that the only two players currently injured are captain Lloyd Kelly and David Brooks.

"Hopefully we'll see him (Kelly) before the World Cup." To add to that O'Neil stated everyone else came through the Southampton affair unscathed, "The boys are good. Obviously, a few bumps and bruises that you always get, but nothing significant. We're still in a good place."

  • On Management

Sometimes, it is easy to forget that this is O'Neil's first post in management. Especially after how well he has performed.

But the 39-year-old continues to relish every minute of it, "I enjoy it, I love managing. I'm really enjoying it. The first defeat was going to come. I can't wait to show we're going to respond."

"I'm very happy with how things are going at the moment."

"I'm managing a club in the Premier League."

Wednesday night brought a special moment for Siriki Dembele, 26 and Joe Rothwell, 27, who have spent the majority of their careers in the lower reaches of the pyramid.

"Dembs has worked hard through the leagues with other clubs he's been at, and he's worked his socks off since he's been here."

"Joe Rothwell has had to wait a while this season because of his injury but I'm really pleased for both of them."

"Obviously we're disappointed we couldn't round it off with a positive result for them but good for them to both get some minutes."

Both came off the bench to make their Premier League debuts and forced O'Neil into reminiscing about his entrance to the top tier of English football in 2003.

"We (Portsmouth) won 6-1 and I scored two. It's a long time ago but you don't forget that, you don't forget scoring two on your Premier League debut."

  • West Ham

Between January 2011 and June 2013, O'Neil played 56 games for The Hammers, winning promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2012, in which he started the final. 

"I loved it" as O'Neil reflects on his time in East London.

"We managed to get back into the Premier League, so I have some real fond memories of my time there. Obviously, they're at a different stadium now but I'm looking forward to going back."

"They've got a good squad, they added some (good players) in the summer so it's obviously a tough test for us but on we're looking forward to."

O'Neil also spoke glowingly about West Ham midfield star, Declan Rice "He's the best all-round English midfielder we have."