Bournemouth will rival Sunderland for defender Steven Caulker as Cherries boss Eddie Howe looks to tighten his defence in the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old is on loan at Southampton from QPR but the Loftus Road club are willing to sell for the right price.

Caulker has plenty of top-flight games under his belt having played throughout a relegation campaign with Cardiff, which preceded the £8million deal to Rangers in summer 2014.

Steven Caulker has played only eight times for Southampton since his loan move from QPR last summer

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is hopeful of tempting the former Tottenham defender to the south coast

Howe is on the look-out for greater Premier League experience at the back, with his side having conceded 34 goals in 20 matches - the worst outside the league's bottom three.

Bournemouth have also asked about Hull's Curtis Davies and Michael Dawson, with Tigers boss Steve Bruce facing a battle to keep the pair over the coming month.

Davies, 30, joined Hull in a £2.25million deal from Birmingham in June 2013 but the defender is keen to seek assurances over his first-team opportunities at the KC Stadium.

But the former Luton, West Brom and Aston Villa player said: 'I'll only leave if the manager says he doesn't want me.

Another player on Howe's radar is Hull City defender Curtis Davies, whose future is uncertain at the Tigers

Davies' defensive partner Michael Dawson would bring Premier League experience to the Vitality Stadium

'My contract is up in the summer and, right now, I am playing for my future. We are in talks over a new deal but, if the effort is not here to keep me, then I shall have to move on.

'I'll be 31 at the end of the season, and I need to be playing games. I would be happy to sign on again here because I've been at Hull for three years and really enjoyed it.'