CHERRIES winger Ryan Fraser hopes ditching a diet of rabbit food will help him start to feast on Premier League appearances.

Fraser is convinced one of the reasons for his indifferent start to the campaign was a lack of energy due to what he had been eating.

The Scotsman, in a bid to hit the ground running after finishing with a flourish last season, spent the summer nibbling on little more than vegetables and salad.

But having returned for pre-season “too lean” and “too skinny”, Fraser felt his form suffered during the first few weeks.

Subbed in two of his four top-flight starts in August and September, the 23-year-old has been restricted to one brief appearance from the bench in Cherries’ past seven Premier League games.

In mitigation, the Aberdonian, who won his second cap for his country in a friendly against Holland earlier this month, has been troubled by a hamstring injury.

And he has played his part in Cherries’ run to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup – starting all three ties and scoring the opener in the 2-1 win at Birmingham.

Fraser, who had previously revealed how Eddie Howe had to wean him off pizza and ice cream at the start of his Cherries career, told the Daily Echo: “I haven’t hit the heights this season but it is hard when you are not playing.

“I thought I did well at the end of last season. I had a little ankle injury but was still getting on and still getting assists.

“I was playing the number-10 role and thought it could be a different position for me so was happy with that.

“Without wanting to sound stupid, I think I came back too good in pre-season. I had never been so lean.

“But I am not a lean person and didn’t have enough energy. It was a weird one.

“I changed my diet and stuff like that. I had gone off carbs – no pasta and no potatoes.

“Basically, I would have a piece of meat on my plate with veg and that would be it, nothing else. I was eating like a rabbit!

“That’s okay in the off-season because you don’t need the energy. But when I came back, I felt too skinny and it didn’t help me.

“I am back on the carbs now and feel so much better. I just need to get my confidence back and have no doubt I will.”

Fraser, who joined Cherries in a £400,000 move from Aberdeen in January 2013, also feels his cause has not been helped by no fewer than three international breaks.

He added: “Sometimes I don’t play and then I had 19 minutes in the game against the Netherlands. It sets me back.

“Without wanting to sound disrespectful to Scotland, if I am playing, then fair enough. But if you’re not playing, you go away and it is hard.

“It was a lot better this time. But, at the same time, the lads here were running, training and getting up to sharpness and I wasn’t doing that type of stuff.”