Cherries have to get nervous starts out the way

It was noticeable that the Cherries found it very hard to getting going against Derby County in the first 10 minutes especially. It was very unlike an AFCB side that likes to charge at the opposition and take the game to them at home. While some credit must go to Derby for their pressing and enthusiasm to put AFCB's players under pressure, AFCB did not manage to create the space they needed and some of the early passing was very rushed.

Artur could help the team settle down with
some controlled early kicking and throwing to his defenders.

AFCB simply gave the ball away far too often.The situation was not helped by a couple of poor kicks from Artur Boruc and the team needs to feel confident that the man between the sticks is on his game. It is an issue that Eddie Howe was not pleased to see in another top match and I would expect that this week there have been a couple of more training sessions to play the ball out of defence with a bit more calm and authority. Against Huddersfield there should not be a repeat and if the team can set a good early tempo it gives them much more confidence.

While a few questionable refereeing decisions did not help, there has to be some calm heads in the team that just dictate that there should be an inner confidence on the pitch seeing that the team has been playing well for several months now. It can be like a switch that goes on though when things come right and Derby seemed rather shocked when things did click and AFCB went one up.

Derby are a good team though and few other outfits in the Championship will be as keen to set about the Cherries in such a confident way. It is a response now that we all hope to see on Saturday and if that can be done it would make the Derby point look more of a bonus than it did on Tuesday night.

You can listen in to more views about AFCB v Derby County on All Departments' website. You can also scroll down the right panel on Cherry Chimes and click on the All Departments' sound bar to listen in. There is lots of talk on there after 20 minutes about the differences in the financial power of both clubs to pay top player wages for those Derby fans who somehow think the Championship is a level playing field when looking at AFCB's team.