Jermain Defoe has reiterated his belief that there is no chance Bournemouth will lose their Premier League status at the end of the season.
He says the club are too good to suffer relegation this season, despite a slow start to their Premier League campaign.
Bournemouth have lost all three of their opening league matches but Defoe, who was relegated with Sunderland last season, is not worried just yet.
Raheem Sterling scored a dramatic winner at the Vitality Stadium last time out to deny Bournemouth their first point this term following defeats to West Brom and Watford in their first two Premier League matches.
Bottom-of-the-league West Ham and Crystal Palace are the only other sides who have failed to pick up a single point since the beginning of the season but Defoe insists Bournemouth have the quality to avoid being involved in a relegation battle.
“It’s not going to happen, 100 per cent it’s not going to happen, not with how it is there,” said Defoe, when questioned on the possibility of relegation.
“It’s such a long season. It’s so early to call but from what I’ve seen since I have been there we’ll be fine.”
Defoe who suffered relegation from the Premier League with Sunderland last season, is still yet to complete a full match for his new club. But the England striker is not worried about his initial bit-part role, insisting he is still working his way back into peak condition.
He believes Eddie Howe doesn’t need to speak to him about how he is going to use him. He also revealed that the reason why he missed the first two games was just due to his fitness levels as he is just trying to get to the same level as the other lads.
It has not been a good start so far for the Cherries as Eddie Howe’s side have lost their first three games of the season and scored just one goal in the process.