Eddie Howe tells Bournemouth's players to not panic

Eddie Howe has urged his players not to panic, and to keep trusting the good habits which enabled Bournemouth to finish in the top half of the Premier League table last season.

The Cherries are currently 19th in the standings, after opening the current campaign with six defeats in eight games.

On Saturday, they travel to Stoke who are just two places and four points above the south coast club, with Howe telling his squad to keep the faith.

Howe told the Daily Echo: "The first two games (defeats by West Brom and Watford) were a real disappointment and we are probably getting punished for those games now in terms of the league position and how everyone's feeling.

"But I think in the past month, we have returned to somewhere near our best levels.

"We could have won the Leicester game (ended goalless) by a big number and everyone would feel different about the team.

"The challenge is to not get lost in the hype and the feeling of losing, where you can suddenly think, 'we have got to change everything' and come away from the things we have trusted and used so well down the years.

"You also have to see the games you are playing in context. We've played Arsenal and Tottenham away and Man City at home.

"Last year we found those games incredibly difficult and it was no different this year.

"The challenge for us is against the other teams in this division where we are going to need to pick up points."