ADAM Smith praised AFC Bournemouth’s recruitment for bringing in talented young players and ensuring there are ‘no bad eggs’ in the Cherries squad.

The summer saw the arrival of fellow right back Julian Araujo, as well as striker Evanilson, keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and centre back Dean Huijsen.

Smith told the Daily Echo the new players had settled in well.

“The club always brings in good characters, no bad eggs in the team,” he said.

“Again, they're very young, so got a lot of improvement, but great potential, as we've seen with other players, like Milos [Kerkez], he's kicked on from last season, Antoine [Semenyo] as well.

“So, I think the club's got a great model and have been signing great young players for sure.

“That's only going to help the club and help us kicking on and winning games.”

(Image: Richard Crease) With Araujo coming to the south coast from Barcelona, Smith’s position has been hotly contested this season.

But the 33-year-old said he, Araujo and Max Aarons share a good bond and aim to help each other out as much as possible.

“I think probably people from the outside think that I wouldn't try and want to help them or mentor them,” Smith explained.

“I want to help them, and even though they're in the same position as me, it's not up to us who picks the team, it's up to the gaffer.

“For sure, I've helped Julian and Maxi over the past months to improve and even sometimes they give me pinpoints, so we're definitely all close. It's not always been like that with other full backs.

“So, it's a nice bond to have and we're just here to help each other, to be honest.

(Image: Richard Crease) “Obviously disappointed to see Julian out for a while now, which is a shame. So, it's not great news, but I'm sure he'll be back stronger.”

As a defensive unit, the Cherries have conceded 15 goals across their 11 games, keeping just one clean sheet.

But Smith explains that the way Iraola’s team plays, clean sheets will not be too common.

“I just think the way we play is we're not really going to keep that many clean sheets because we're so high pressing,” he said.

“We kind of do 1v1 at the back, sometimes it's like 4v3 at the back. It's tough.

“So, we take high risk, but with the high risk, obviously it's going to be vulnerable sometimes in games.

“I don't really look too much into these whole clean sheet things. But I do think we are keeping teams having less chances in the games.

“We do work on it, but I just think we're just getting used to each other at the back. Kepa as well has come in, done very well and Travs [Mark Travers] also came in and did very well.

“So, I think as a team, we all defend well together and attack together well, so it is a group thing.”