SKIPPER Lloyd Kelly shared his belief that Cherries will always stick together when the going gets tough, with the defender sharing “that fight is here and it’s in the changing room”.

Cherries looked dead and buried at half-time on Saturday, with Nottingham Forest 2-0 up and in control of the Premier League clash at the City Ground.

However, a tactical switch and some inspiration via Philip Billing’s blasted strike from long range gave Cherries momentum early on in the second half, with goals from Dominic Solanke and sub Jaidon Anthony completing a 3-2 turnaround.

Captain Kelly played the full 90 minutes, setting up Solanke’s equaliser by heading a corner into the path of the striker’s acrobatic attempt.

The week leading up to the Forest game was chaotic, with the side still reeling from a 9-0 defeat away at Liverpool when head coach Scott Parker was dismissed for his repeated digs at the board.

Stressing the character shown by his teammates, Kelly told the Daily Echo: “It’s been a tough week, of course, for everyone it has been.

“But we've been trying to focus on what we can control, the games we play.

“The past two results have been good for us and we've stuck together.

“That fight is here and it's in the changing room. You can see it within everyone and to a man, each of us back each other and sticks behind each other when things go tough.

“I think we knew if we got one goal, it could change the game, it could change the swing of the game and the momentum, and it did.

“So that was our number one thought, get more pressure on the ball, get more pressure higher up and cause problems.”

Stood inline with Billing when he let fly from range, Kelly shared that the team had been encouraging the Dane to try his luck from range more often.

Kelly added: “I said to him after, I was literally stood behind it, it's a good strike.

“We've been telling him for a long while now to shoot because you know what he's capable of when he has time and space to hit a ball. He's one of the best. So, yeah, I'm pleased for him. Pleased for everyone.

In the end it was Solanke who proved the difference, grabbing a goal and an assist. The winner came about when the striker harassed Forest defender Scott McKenna, allowing him to tee up Anthony.

Praising his striker, Kelly stated: “You can never question Dom’s work rate.

“He puts in everything that he can for everyone and he knows what can come from putting in that work, his goals, and creating chances. When the chance comes to him, he’s going to take it.”