STEVE Cook insisted Eddie Howe would be perfectly entitled to tinker with his starting line-up in the wake of Cherries' disappointing defeat by Southampton.

The vibrancy and panache that are such hallmarks of Howe's side were missing as they were beaten 3-1 at Vitality Stadium on Sunday.

And that left Cook questioning whether Howe might make more changes for Cherries' Boxing Day clash at Chelsea than the one that will be forced on him by Nathan Ake's ineligibility to face his parent club.

Cook told the Daily Echo: "It’s a big shame for Nathan but it’s an opportunity for someone else. Hopefully, whoever comes in, can add to this team.

"But, to be honest, the manager could change more than one person after our performance against Southampton.

"Whoever plays has a great opportunity to stay in the team and to change our fortunes after that result."

Cherries' inability to beat Saints represented the seventh time they had blown the opportunity to record back-to-back victories since they last achieved the feat in March.

Chelsea, by stark contrast, have won their past 11 Premier League games.

Cook, however, insists memories of last season – when Cherries stunned the then defending champions by winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge – can serve as inspiration for a repeat showing.

"It was a great day for us last year, a massive win and it changed our season," he said.

"We put together a great run afterwards and would like to be able to replicate that. We need to get on a run and bounce back and are capable of doing that."

If Cherries are to experience more success at Chelsea, they will have to rediscover their defensive mettle.

To that end, they will be helped by the absence of the Premier League's suspended 13-goal top scorer Diego Costa.

But Cook says the Spanish international's omission will be an irrelevance if his side do not address an issue that has seen them ship 12 goals in five games.

He said: "Costa's a world class player, but they will bring in another one.

"That’s why they are top of the league. Whoever plays for Chelsea will be a world class star.

"We have to up our game. We've been conceding too many soft goals. We can’t afford to go 1-0 down against Chelsea because they’re not conceding.

"It needs to be an all-round performance and a lot better than it was against Southampton.

"It's going to be the hardest of tasks so we need to get things right on the training ground and go again."

Cook is also conscious that this Chelsea is a very different version to the one they downed courtesy of Glenn Murray's goal 12 months ago.

"Everyone knows how much Chelsea’s mindset has changed from a year ago," he added.

"The players, manager and fans are all on a high. It’s up to us to change that and, if we deliver a real Bournemouth performance, we have a chance."