RALPH Hasenhuttl is expecting a tough challenge from Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals, adding: "This still, for me, feels like a Premier League team."

Cherries were relegated last season, after five years in the top flight.

They currently sit seventh in the Championship, with Jonathan Woodgate now at the helm following the departures of Eddie Howe and then Jason Tindall as managers since leaving the Premier League.

Bournemouth lost a host of players over the summer including Nathan Ake, Callum Wilson and Aaron Ramsdale, with Joshua King also heading out the exit door in January.

But Hasenhuttl feels the squad still possesses lots of quality.

Asked how different the challenge posed by Cherries is compared to the one they faced in July, when Saints won 2-0 at Vitality Stadium, Hasenhuttl said: "Not really, this still, for me, feels like a Premier League team.

"There are a lot of players in this team who last year were also in the Premier League.

"With a new manager, belief in what they are doing. We know how difficult it is to play there.

"We had a very intense game the last time we went there, with a better end for us.

"I think a deserved better end for us because we were very competitive at that moment, believing in what we have done and this is what we have to do on the weekend again, because it’s not easy."

Speaking after the quarter-final draw was made, Bournemouth captain Steve Cook said a number of the players felt they owed Saints following that loss in July, which all-but sent the club into the Championship.

Discussing the prospect of facing a fired up Cherries side this weekend, Hasenhuttl said: "If anybody expects something different in the FA Cup quarter-finals, then they are definitely not in the right position to be honest.

"What do you expect? It’s a cup fight to get into the semi-finals at the weekend, where there are only eight teams left. So it is a big opportunity and this is never easy, this is normal."