SIMON Francis hopes that Cherries are at least making a favourable impression on their Championship peers – despite failing to win any of their past four encounters.

Despite that run, three of those games have been against the current top three – Leicester, Burnley and Derby – with narrow defeats against the former and latter being filled out by a draw against the Turf Moor outfit.

A controversial late free kick from Chris Martin sunk Cherries at Derby on Saturday and Francis admitted that a familiar frustration accompanied the camp again after a disappointing defeat, despite a solid performance.

He told the Daily Echo: “We were massively disappointed and it seems like we have been saying it a lot recently.

“Even the games where we came away with draws were games we thought we should have won.

“Against Leicester at home, we matched them, Burnley, we matched them, we were 1-0 up and should have won the game and (on Saturday) we should have taken something more from it.

“I hope that people are taking note and that teams are going away thinking that we are a quality side.

“It’s our first season in the Championship and we’re not going to be pushing for top-two just yet. It’s not going to be like that, we’ve got to take it slow, but there’s no doubt that the squad we’ve got now can compete.”

Next up for Francis and his teammates is Doncaster at Dean Court on Saturday, a side six points below Cherries who are desperately fighting against slipping into the relegation mire.

Francis, 29, is hoping for improved accuracy in front of goal this time round after Matt Ritchie, Tokelo Rantie and Lewis Grabban all went desperately close against Derby without finding the net.

Cherries have managed just three goals in their last four Championship fixtures and Francis admitted he would like to see that figure improve.

He said: “If we keep creating chances like we are then the goals will come.

“We’ve had spells where we were scoring fluently and we’ve had dry spells where we can’t seem to get it in the back of the net, but that’s football, it’s swings and roundabouts, things change.

“Luck doesn’t seem to be going our way at the moment, but hopefully that will turn round.”

  • Cherries midfielder Josh Wakefield has rejoined Conference club Welling United on a month-long loan.