BOSS Eddie Howe admitted Cherries still had “lots to work on and improve” despite breaking their seasonal duck in the Premier League.

Victory over Brighton six days ago saw Cherries register their first points in the top flight following four successive defeats.

Goals from Andrew Surman and Jermain Defoe helped Cherries come from behind against the Seagulls after they had conceded for the ninth time in the league.

Cherries will be hoping to follow up when they visit Everton on Saturday – with the Toffees also having endured an indifferent start with just four points from their first five games.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “You have to be careful not to over-react. I thought we played well against Manchester City but didn’t against Arsenal.

“But they are two teams you can lose to even if you are at your absolute maximum.

“We showed more composure on the ball against Brighton and tried to do what we do best. We prepared to go back to basics, do the fundamentals and try to do them well.

“We know there is room for improvement and are not saying we are fully back. But, hopefully, it was a start.

“In the Premier League, you can’t give yourself a mountain to climb and you can’t start so badly that you are in a position where you are playing catch-up because it is such a tough league.

“That is why Brighton was so important, but every game is important.

“Winning will just make a difference to the boys’ belief systems and we can get back to some of the football we had played previously. We have to be very level and make sure we focus on our next game.”

Brighton’s Solly March gave them the lead at Vitality Stadium – the fifth league game in succession that Cherries had gone behind.

Howe added: “My main thought when we conceded was to not let us become really disjointed, as we had against Watford.

“The pleasing thing was we kept our focus and kept doing what we were doing.

“Although it wasn’t evident to everybody around the stadium that it was working, the danger is you panic and start doing something totally different, which is alien to what you are good at.

“We didn’t do that and I felt we were very good after we had scored the first goal.

“I thought we were good in the first half as well. But, in saying that, you could see we were a team which hadn’t won in a while.

“We were very good in the first two thirds but flattered to deceive from that point so there is a lot to work on and improve. I am not going to say everything is fixed and solved.

“But to control a Premier League game in that way was very impressive. We lost control at the start of the second half, conceded and then had to dig really deep to find our form again.”