Marco Rose Backs Winless Bournemouth to Find Premier League Spark Before Sunderland Visit

Rose keeps the faith as Bournemouth chase a first league win

Marco Rose says he retains full belief in his Bournemouth squad despite a miserable start to the Premier League campaign that continued with a 5-1 thrashing at Chelsea last weekend.

The heavy defeat at Stamford Bridge left the Cherries 18th in the top flight with just three points from six matches, still searching for a first league win under their head coach. Bournemouth host Sunderland on Sunday.

Rose, though, is refusing to panic, pointing to a squad he believes is competitive enough to cope with a punishing fixture list.

"I believe in this team and know they are always confident despite a difficult situation," Rose told TNT Sports.

"The squad is working, everyone is keen to play, everyone deserves to play and it's good for us for the busy weeks to have a competitive squad.

"If we stick together and play like this and we have our fans then we are hard to play and it's hard to beat us. That's what we should take into the next game."

Europe offers a very different picture

Bournemouth's domestic struggles stand in stark contrast to their continental form. Having beaten Real Sociedad last month, Rose's side followed up with a convincing 3-0 win over Sturm Graz on Thursday.

That result made Bournemouth the first English team to win their first two matches in major European competition since Bolton Wanderers in the 2005-06 UEFA Cup.

There is encouragement at home too, even if the league table does not yet show it. Bournemouth have lost just one of their last 14 home games in all competitions, winning five and drawing eight.

Sunderland arrive on the back of their own European win

Sunderland will visit the Vitality Stadium having also been in European action this week, the Black Cats beating Torreense 2-1.

The Cherries' winless run had already stretched to five matches before the Chelsea loss. On 21 September, Rose warned his players that they would earn no points for merely "looking good" after a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool in which Alexander Isak scored the only goal from close range in the 57th minute.

Rose now has the chance to answer those concerns on the pitch, with a competitive squad and a crowd behind him, as Bournemouth look to convert their European momentum into a first Premier League victory of the season.