ANDONI Iraola described as a “special day” his first game as a head coach in the Premier League, as he reflected on Saturday’s draw against West Ham United.

Iraola’s Cherries battled back to earn a point, Dominic Solanke’s goal cancelling out an opener from Jarrod Bowen at Vitality Stadium.

It marked a first time managing in England’s top flight for Iraola, who hails from the Basque Country, and joined Cherries in June.

The 41-year-old began his managerial career in 2018 with AEK Larnaca in Cyprus, before four years in Spain with Mirandes and then Rayo Vallecano.

Asked how he felt ahead of the West Ham contest, Iraola said: “I slept okay. I normally sleep very well! When I wake up, the nerves start.

“You need to have this as a player or a coach. I think there has to be something moving inside, because it’s the way it has to be. But we are really looking forward to the next one.

“The first thing is to play, there is no other thing than to play, but after playing I think being a coach is also really exciting.”

He added: “I was nervous because it was my first Premier League game. For me it was a special day.

“I wanted to play well, I wanted to win. We finished with a point.

“I came after a coach who has been successful here, who made a very good season. The goal was there after a promotion and taking the team after some weeks.

“Obviously it was very good from Gary (O’Neil) in the past season here. We start now a new season, with also the willingness of finishing successfully.”

Iraola has spent around six weeks implementing his style of play into the Cherries squad, the high-pressing tactics new to most of the group.

Asked if against West Ham the team showed good signs of what he hopes to see from them going forwards, Iraola said: “I think there are certain things the team already has inside that they are doing very well. But other things we need to improve.

“We were not pressing so intense, high, because we knew that they were going to play very direct, so we needed bodies there for second balls and take the second balls in the middle.

“But with the ball, I think it was our problem. In the first half we were quite slow to move the ball.

“It is very difficult to find spaces inside, or even outside against a Premier League team like West Ham, who are really solid with this ball speed.”

Cherries face Liverpool on Saturday, their first trip to Anfield since losing 9-0 there last August.