Eddie Howe calls on Bournemouth to start winning on the road

Eddie Howe has called on his Bournemouth team to start winning matches on the road as they look to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone.

Bournemouth have lost all four away matches this season, and are currently second bottom of the Premier League after picking up just four points from their opening eight games.

The Cherries travel to Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday and Howe is looking for a big improvement against Mark Hughes' side.

He said: "We really want to get a win away from home. Our performances have been there in the main, particularly at Everton and Tottenham.

"Those were two tough games and I thought we performed well in both and it's just a case of putting those performances together. Being a bit more ruthless in front of goal, more resilient at the back and I think we will get there.

"Last week was the best we've played against Tottenham away from home. (Hugo) Lloris made an excellent early save to keep it at 0-0.

"I think your performance is very very important. There are ways you can encounter losing without playing too well.

"It's hard to win any game in the Premier League but that's what we're here to do. We have to do better ourselves and know where we are because of small margins.

"I would defend the team, especially how they performed in the last month but knowing we can improve and do a lot better.

"We know we have to start picking up points and winning games. I'm confident in the players that we can all come through this."

Stoke, suffered a heavy defeat to league leaders Manchester City last time out, but Howe believes the 7-2 loss means little with regards to this weekend's game.

He said: "Games like that you just need to take out of context. When they (Man City) are in the form they're in at the moment, some of the football they played was incredible.

"From our perspective, that is just one strange game in terms of the scoreline."

Howe also revealed that Bournemouth will be without Brad Smith and Tyrone Mings for the clash with Stoke.

He added: "We're still missing a couple of players. Brad Smith will be out. Tyrone Mings will be out. Brad is seeing a specialist. We think he won't need surgery but he's going to be out for some time.

"Ryan Fraser will be checked for his hamstring but apart from that I think we're okay. It's 50/50 whether he'll be involved."