Andoni Iraola on AFC Bournemouth losing points from winning positions

Bournemouth took a first-half lead at the weekend at Villa Park thanks to Dominic Solanke’s penalty but were pegged by Aston Villa prior to the break.

After Morgan Rogers had restored parity, the Villans came out in the second half to go on and win the game courtesy of goals from Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey.

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Cherries have now dropped 27 points from winning positions this campaign, the second highest amount after Brentford, who have lost 30 points after taking a lead.

Asked if he was concerned about Cherries dropping points after leading, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “Obviously when you start winning you want to keep winning.

“But it was very early we scored and still had a lot of the game to play.

“I think we've also recovered a lot of points lately, when we were in losing positions, we are scoring goals or saving goals - quite open games.

“But for me the key is to read well, especially the end of the first half.

“To put them under pressure, winning 1-0 second half, when we can play a little bit - they could not attack us so much, play a little lower, play better on transitions and we didn't deal well with these key moments.

“Because at the end it's normal that with the level of their forwards, they will find the moments where they can make the difference.”

Cherries return to action on Wednesday night when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

With five games remaining, Cherries are a point behind Wolves, who sit two places above Bournemouth in 11th.