Dyche aiming to turn Forest's Premier League fortunes around after fulfilling dream start

Sean Dyche revealed that he "waited a long time for that moment" after leading Nottingham Forest to a European win over Porto in his first match in charge.

Dyche, who replaced Ange Postecoglou earlier this week, oversaw Forest's 2-0 triumph at the City Ground on Thursday, the club's first win in all competitions since August 17.

Indeed, Forest recorded their first victory in major European competition since November 1995 against Lyon in the UEFA Cup, ending a five-game winless run (D2 L3).

But, more importantly, Dyche's attentions have now turned to the Premier League, with his first league assignment a testing trip to high-flying Bournemouth on Sunday.

With Dyche taking charge, Forest are already on their third permanent manager this season after Nuno Espirito Santo and Postecoglou. It is the earliest into a Premier League campaign where a side has had three different permanent managers.

"I'd waited a long time for that moment. As a young person here in '87, all I wanted to do was wear the shirt," Dyche said of his side's Europa League win.

"To come back as the manager is super pleasing, and to stand there and absorb it. I've learnt in life that sometimes you have to slow your thinking down and take it in.

"So many big moments in life have been so nerve-wracking; they just go, and suddenly they are finished. So I thought, 'take it in and put it in the memory'."

Bournemouth, meanwhile, are looking to continue their excellent start to the campaign, despite letting a two-goal lead slip against Crystal Palace to draw 3-3 last time out. 

Eli Kroupi's first-half double and Ryan Christie's late goal looked to send the Cherries at least temporarily to the Premier League summit at Selhurst Park. 

However, Jean-Philippe Mateta completed his hat-trick in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a share of the spoils for Oliver Glasner's team. 

It's been a promising start for many of Bournemouth's summer recruits, but none are as impressive as full-back Adrien Truffert, who is relishing the challenge of the top-flight. 

"It's one of the best leagues and I imagined it would suit me in terms of intensity and repetitive effort," Truffert said. 

"On that day against Liverpool, we showed a lot of character to come back.

"We push ourselves in training. We have everything we need to focus on performing, and I want to keep improving, to take as many steps as possible.

"Everyone talked about the Premier League being a different level, and I wanted to form my own opinion. And yes, there's very little downtime."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo

Though Forest found some defensive stability in their first game of the Dyche era, Bournemouth will be confident that Antoine Semenyo can pick the lock here.

Only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (12) has been involved in more Premier League goals than Semenyo this season (nine – six goals, three assists).

The Ghanian has also scored in his last two games against Forest and will be out to inflict a first defeat on Dyche at Vitality Stadium.

Nottingham Forest – Igor Jesus

Dyche will be somewhat disappointed that he may not be able to call on Forest's top scorer last season, Chris Wood, who missed the win over Porto with a knock.

Indeed, 82 of the New Zealander's 91 Premier League goals have been scored under either Dyche (49) or Nuno (33), but Forest do have a capable replacement in Igor Jesus.

The summer signing scored his first goal at the City Ground in midweek and is now the joint-top scorer in the Europa League with three, though he is yet to net in the top-flight. 

MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN

Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Forest (W6 D4) since losing both Championship meetings in their 2014-15 promotion season.

The Cherries are also unbeaten in their last seven top-flight games (W4 D3), the longest current ongoing run in the competition.

It is their fourth run of seven or more unbeaten games in the Premier League (three of those coming under Iraola), only having a longer run between November and January last season (11).

Forest, meanwhile, have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Bournemouth (D3 L7), beating them 2-1 in the Championship in August 2014.

They are also winless in their last seven top-flight games (D2 L5), with only Wolves currently on a longer run (12), and will be hoping for a continuation of their new manager bounce here.

However, Dyche has lost his last three Premier League games against Bournemouth, having won six in a row against the Cherries before this. Indeed, his last Premier League match in charge of Everton was a 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth in January last season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bournemouth – 56.3%

Draw – 22.6%

Nottingham Forest – 21.1%