Simon Francis has praised his fellow Bournemouth defenders after keeping a clean sheet against Spurs in their last Premier League outing.
All of the Cherries' current back four have played both League One and Championship football for the club, and Francis believes that is unprecedented in the top division.
Speaking totheBournemouth Echo, the defendersaid:It goes under the radar, I think. I can't think of too many teams in the Premier League that have had the same back four from League One and proved themselves as Premier League defenders.
I'm standing here giving myself a big head! But I played the majority of last season at centre-half and played right-back as well. And the rest of the lads had a full season. We know we can play in the Premier League, there's no doubt about that.�
The 31-year old added that he thinks it was necessary for Eddie Howe to bring in the likes ofMarc Wilson to bolster the defensive options at the club.
It was well documented in the summer that we needed to bring in a centre-half," Francis added.
"We bought Marc Wilson and Nathan Ake can play there as well. We have strength in depth but I think the back four, at the moment, are the first four on the team sheet.
"That's credit to all the lads, not just the back four. And also to the manager and the staff, who work hard with us every day.
We know we have to concede fewer goals than we did last season and the Spurs game was a great example of how far we've come.
"We concentrated for 90 minutes as a back four against Spurs. I thought everyone was outstanding and that's why we got a clean sheet."