Brendan Rodgers gave a glowing endorsement of the job that Eddie Howe has done at AFC Bournemouth after Liverpool defeated the Cherries in the League Cup last night.

The Northern Irishman said to the Bournemouth Echo: ''Eddie's done a fantastic job here, they are top of the Championship and that's a tough league with some very tough sides in it''. He went on to praise the resilience of  the Solent side, saying ''they kept going even at three, trying to work the ball and trying to play''.

The former Swansea boss should know more than most about guiding a team to the top flight having done so with the Welsh Side on the 30th May 2011 via the play off's.

On that occasion, like Bournemouth, Swansea did so by working on a budget and playing attractive football. There were signs of the attacking prowess that the South Coast side possess in the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool although the slick movement of Raheem Sterling proved their undoing along with rueful missed opportunities by Yann Kermorgant and Callum Wilson.

The consolation goal from Dan Gosling enthused the Bournemouth contingent of the  11,347 crowd that were packed into the Goldsands Stadium and the neutral audience hoping for an upset. However, it wasn't to be and attention will now turn to Saturday's meeting with Blackpool.

The affection that Rodgers and Howe share stems from a recognition of football philosophy that both infiltrate on their teams

Ironically Liverpool faced Bournemouth in the FA Cup last season, running out two nil winners on that occasion. Speaking then, Rodgers spoke of this philosophy,“Coaches like Eddie Howe will take the game forward in this country because they believe in a way of work and have a philosophy. ''I think they are a terrific team''.

For now they won't face each other in their respective league although the chances of the duo pitting their wits against one another in the near future doesn't seem so far fetched as it once did.