STEVE Cook has called for Cherries to “dig deep” in a bid to get back on track in the Premier League.

The central defender made his first top-flight start in five weeks during the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham at Wembley five days ago.

Christian Eriksen's goal condemned Cherries to a sixth reverse in eight league games this season, leaving them 19th in the table.

Cherries face 17th-placed Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday (3pm) – a contest labelled as “huge” by Cook.

Nathan Ake's goal earned Cherries a 1-0 win in the Potteries last season, a victory which ended a run of three games without a win.

And Cook is hoping this season’s encounter can provide a similar catalyst.

He told the Daily Echo: “It’s a huge game for us. I think winning there last time really kick-started our season.

“We won 1-0 and kept a clean sheet. It’s a really tough place to go but we know we can get a positive result.

“They have numerous threats but we will approach the game no differently to any other in the way we are going to play.

“We want to impose ourselves on them. I think we can go there and get the win.

“We need to stick together, the fans included. They are very important and we need to keep them onside.

“We have been in this position before and have always found a way to turn it around, so I am very positive in that respect.

“Nobody is going to give us anything, nobody is going to hand it to us on a plate. We need to dig deep and grind out a good result.”

Cook was injured when Eddie Howe’s men overcame Brighton 2-1 at Vitality Stadium in September to earn their first Premier League win of the campaign.

And he was an unused substitute when Cherries drew 0-0 with Leicester City last month.

Those two results have given Howe’s men their only points of the campaign, meaning only Crystal Palace sit between them and the bottom of the pile.

And Cook stressed the urgency for Cherries to turn positive performances into points.

The 26-year-old added: “We need to be winning games. We need points on the board now.

“We cannot keep saying we have done alright and have come so close. We need to start getting positive results.

“I think we are performing well. If we were performing poorly and getting battered each week then you would be concerned.

“We know we can win games in this league, we can go on good runs and have shown that before.

“I am very confident in the ability of myself and the team to turn this around. We have to stay positive.

“If you don’t win enough games, you are going to find yourself coming out of this league. We worked so hard to get ourselves here, we don’t want to give that up.”