EDDIE Howe insists he remains pleased with "team player" Dominic Solanke's contribution, despite the striker's wait for a first Cherries goal rumbling on.

Having been largely restricted to substitute appearances since joining the club from Liverpool in January, Solanke has been handed starts in the past two matches against Everton and Southampton.

While the striker did not find the net, he played his part in Cherries sealing back-to-back victories for the first time since January.

And Howe is happy with his efforts.

The boss told the Daily Echo: "I think Dom would want to score, naturally. You ask any player, whether you're a centre-half, full-back, goalkeeper, everyone wants to score.

"I'm sure Dom's no different to that but I would evaluate his performance in different ways. Is he being effective for the team, is he doing his job that we ask him to do, all the little things that are so important to make a centre-forward's performance complete, holding the ball up, defending set plays. I'd say he's done all of those things to a very high level.

"Of course we'd love to create chances for him to score goals, I think that will come in time, but he's certainly performing well for the team. I would consider Dom very much a team player and that's great to have in our front line."