SCOTT Parker was left "proud" of Cherries' display to battle back to another dramatic Championship victory.

Trailing 10-man Stoke City with eight minutes to play, Dominic Solanke popped up to equalise.

But the drama was not done there as Jamal Lowe turned in a winner to send Vitality Stadium wild. The 2-1 victory leaves Parker's men second in the table, with games in hand on the chasing pack.

“I was proud of the second-half performance," said Parker.

"I was proud of the first half at times.

“Big character the team showed there. Under difficult circumstances in a sense of Stoke came here – the first time they played a back five in five or six games.

“They showed us huge respect in that and came to do a job in that sense. It was always going to be a little bit of a difficult afternoon in that sense.

“Good, stubborn well-organised team and when they scored and they went down to 10 men it proves even more difficult for that."

He added: “I spoke to the team at half-time about not letting the emotion of the game or the stadium, certainly first half, I felt there was a sense in the stadium that probably transpired a little bit onto the team as well and the group of players.

“We probably just went away from how we can win games and how we are going to win games.

“Second half I thought we did exactly what I wanted us to. Work opening and be patient in the way we go about our work and try to break the team down.

“Of course, you don’t want it to be as late. The keeper has pulled off a couple of big saves – we’ve had a couple of chances, hit the bar and then in the end I was pleased with the result and the two goals.”