BOSS Eddie Howe believes Cherries have made the most of the international break as they aim to build on a promising start to life in the Championship.

Cherries are sitting pretty in sixth position after registering three victories during the club's best opening to a second tier season over the first five matches.

Despite suffering away-day hammerings at Watford and Huddersfield, Cherries have impressed with wins over Charlton, Wigan Athletic and Doncaster Rovers.

After successive trips to Huddersfield, Watford and Doncaster, Howe gave his players a brief rest following their 1-0 success at Keepmoat Stadium on August 31.

But having benefited from that and some valuable time on the training pitch, Cherries are now gearing up for Saturday's home clash with league leaders Blackpool.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “We gave the players a couple of days off. With the travelling they had to do for the three away games, it was a tough spell for us.

“The attitude of the players during that time was very good and we felt the best thing to do, especially during the early part of last week, was to give them time to spend some quality time with their families and to recuperate from the early-season games.

“They came back in and looked very fresh in training. It has been a really good chance to get in some good work with the players and we are looking forward to another good week in preparation for another hard spell of games.”

Meanwhile, Cherries have bolstered their development squad by handing contracts to Samir Bihmoutine and Charlie Losasso.

The duo have signed deals until the end of the season. Bihmoutine has joined after 11 years with Arsenal, while Losasso was formerly with Reading's under-21s.