After a poor start to the year that left Bournemouth at threat of relegation, they have improved since their resilience earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester United last month and they have now climbed up to 11th place.

Earlier on Saturday, Liverpool impressed in defeating Everton 3-1, but Smith has faith in the game plan they will take to Anfield.

"It's another tough game but we're going to go there with confidence; we're unbeaten in the last four games and we'll be looking to take that on," he told the club's official website.

"They've got quality players and the way they play is very good.

"We know that if we put them under pressure and don't give them time on the ball we can try and force them into mistakes, we're going there with a bit of confidence.

"We'll have Sunday off and then recover on Monday to prepare for Liverpool."

Southampton, who sit 10th, level on 34 points with Bournemouth immediately below them, visit Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

Palace will go into the match on a massive high following their shock 2-1 victory at Chelsea - giving them a fourth successive win - but Southampton manager Claude Puel is taking confidence from his goalkeeper Fraser Forster's form.

"It's a clean sheet but it is with luck," Puel told his club's website of Saturday's draw. "I prefer to get a clean sheet with strong defence and quality.

"I would also like to talk about the good performance of Fraser Forster who made some good saves to get one point.

"It was a good thing to be back at St Mary's after almost two months but it's a disappointment because we wanted to offer a good result for all the fans.

"It's important now to recover well and to start to think about playing Crystal Palace on Wednesday."