Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is full of praise for midfielder Philip Billing.

He believes the 23-year-old can play a pivotal role for his team as they look to avoid relegation in the Premier League.

Billing recently came back from injury, and scored an impressive goal against Aston Villa in a 2-1 win on Saturday.

The Dane has played 21 games for the Cherries since arriving from Huddersfield Town in the summer.

Speaking about Billing, Howe told the Daily Echo: "I thought at the beginning of the season he was outstanding and I think naturally all players through the season maybe have a slight dip.

"But I think in the past few games he has come back with a bang.

"He is such an impressive player when he is at his best, he covers the ground really well, uses the ball well and, with the size that he is, he adds a lot to the team."

"I thought Phil was excellent," added Howe about the performance against Villa.

"Not just his goal but aerially that is probably the strongest he has been and physically he put in an incredible amount of work with Jeff (Lerma) and Dan (Gosling), so very, very pleased to see him score.

"He does have that ability to hit pockets from distance but Saturday was more of a timing goal, he ran on to the ball really well and finished it excellently."