LEWIS Cook admits he did feel a sense of “disappointment” after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, before adding: “I think without realising it, it will be a massive point.”
Unai Emery’s side sit fourth in the Premier League table, and booked their place in the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League last week.
But they needed a brilliant last-minute goal from Ollie Watkins, as well as some impressive saves from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, to earn a share of the spoils.
The game was level at half-time, Leon Bailey cancelling out Antoine Semenyo’s opener.
Solanke then put Cherries in front, before the late Watkins leveller.
Reflecting on the result, Cook took the Daily Echo: “I feel probably a bit of disappointment.
“I felt like we definitely could have won that game. Obviously we go towards the end of the game in the lead. We had some big chances.
“They had a goal chalked off as well, so a bit disappointing, but I think overall if you look at it, it is against a top team at the moment and I think without realising it, it will be a massive point.”
Asked if that type of performance shows the confidence flowing through the team, having now picked up seven points from three Premier League fixtures, Cook added: “The lads are doing great. We are just trying to back up the last few results and performances.
“That’s all you can ask for really, against a top team like this, a strong performance from the team and individuals. We’ve just got to build from it and carry on trying to win.”
He added: “I feel like if you win your battles and win your duels, you’ve got a massive chance of winning the game.
“So we’re just going to keep doing that, keep trying to give it our all and you can see the lads giving it their all, you can see that in the running stats. If we keep doing that, we’ll get there.”
Cook himself had a spell out of the team, following a red card in defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in October.
His return has coincided with Cherries’ uptick in results.
Asked if he felt like he had a bit of a point to prove upon coming back into the side, the midfielder said: “It was tough, but I felt like the spell I was out was when we really started kicking on.
“I felt like I got a lot of good work in then and tried to come back and affect the team as much as I can. I’ve got to keep going, keep working hard and hopefully get a few more wins.”
Cherries face a quick turnaround, with a trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Wednesday (7.30pm).
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