KEVIN Bond saw Cherries crash to a dismal defeat at Blackpool and then challenged his players to react to their "first poor performance for a few weeks".

Goals either side of half-time from Adrian Forbes and Ben Burgess failed to tell the full story as Cherries turned in an abject display at Bloomfield Road.

Bond's charges never looked likely to secure a third win on the trot and rarely tested Seasiders goalkeeper Paul Rachubka.

But with a crucial showdown against League One relegation rivals Northampton on the horizon, Bond wants his players to dig deep for a response.

He said: "It was the first poor performance we've put in for a few weeks but that doesn't make it acceptable.

"You know you're going to lose games when you're at this end of the table and it was hugely disappointing.

"It was disappointing for us and it must have been very disappointing for the people who travelled such a long way to see us so I can imagine how they must be feeling.

"The most important thing is how we react and we've got a big game at Northampton on Saturday so let's not lose sight of the fact we've done well of late."

Bond added: "It was disappointing because they were better than us in every department, especially in the first half.

"Their front two messed our defenders about too much and their back two didn't give our front two a sniff.

"They were quicker and more alert than us and won nearly every individual battle. They were sharper, they picked up second balls and were quicker on the ball. As a consequence, we were on the back foot for most of the game.

"We tried to do something about it at half-time and changed it slightly in the second half. But we were trying to come from behind and it's always difficult.

"We gave away a really poor second goal because there was no talking among the centre halves. We huffed and puffed late on, but it was too little, too late."

Bond expects Marcus Browning to miss Cherries' trip to Sixfields on Saturday after he limped off with a calf strain just 19 minutes in.