CHERRIES midfielder Ryan Christie is calling upon his teammates to seize the “feel-good momentum” they have garnered in recent weeks when Aston Villa come to visit Vitality Stadium this weekend.

Christie has become an established cog of the Cherries midfield under Andoni Iraola, helping his side to wins over Burnley, Newcastle and Sheffield United in recent weeks.

After waiting 10 fixtures for a first league win, Cherries have started to rise up the Premier League table, with a nine-point haul from the last 12 on offer.

The Scottish international hopes that his side can use their recent upturn in form as a platform to build a run of results, ahead of a busy period for Cherries.

Before the end of 2023, Cherries will face seven Premier League matches, including a run of three games inside seven days that starts on Sunday, December 3 with the visit of the Villans.

Speaking to the Daily Echo in the aftermath of Cherries’ 3-1 victory away at Sheffield United, Christie commented: “We want to put a run together, that would be nice.

“You want to keep adding to this feel-good momentum we've got right now.

“(Against Sheffield United) we were very controlling of the game.

“That’s probably the most we've controlled the game throughout the season, another big positive.

“Obviously you can't get too far ahead of yourselves.

"And again, Villa, a team similar to Newcastle, that have massive threats and have really kicked on in the last couple of seasons.

“We'll enjoy this for a couple of days and then we'll focus on Villa.”

Unai Emery’s transformation of Aston Villa took them to the Europa Conference League last term, with the West Midlands side facing Polish outfit Legia Warszawa this evening prior to their trip to the south coast.

Christie will try and take in the action live on television, but admitted that a certain new arrival to the household may prevent him from watching the entire game.

“The Thursday night games seem to be right on bedtime for the little man right now, so we’re not getting to sit in front of the TV as much!” he joked when asked if he would be watching Villa’s European exploits.

“But, always normally got football in the house and, the likes of John McGinn and stuff (playing for Aston Villa), will be supporting him from the couch.

“They've done well in Europe this season, because they’ve not been there for a while.

“But plenty, I'm sure, we can take from watching the game going into Sunday.”