ANDREW Surman insisted Cherries would “take the positives” from their two defeats against Premier League high-fliers into their next two games against top-flight strugglers.

Surman came off the bench in the 3-0 reverse at Liverpool on Saturday before returning to the starting line-up as Cherries were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United last night.

The midfielder will be hoping to keep his place when Cherries visit former club Southampton on April 28 before bringing down the curtain on their home campaign against Swansea on May 5.

Surman told the Daily Echo: “They will be completely different games but are still going to be really tough. All games are tough in the Premier League for different reasons.

“You play second in the league with world-class players and then you play a team fighting for their lives.

“Games come thick and fast and we want to finish on a positive. We don’t want the season to fizzle out and survive but not really give a good account of ourselves. The next game is going to be huge for us.

“We set out our stall to beat last season’s points total and that has been the aim all season. We still have that chance if we could win the final three games.

“We need to make sure we are bang at it against Southampton and don’t think we are safe. We have to keep striving for that better points total and that has to be our motivation now.”

Discussing the Manchester United defeat, Surman said: "It was frustrating. We know they are a good team but I thought we were in the game for a large part.

"At 0-0 and 1-0, we still had a chance. We started the second half well, we looked dangerous and probably should have had a penalty. I thought it was a stonewall penalty.

"Unfortunately, if those decisions don’t go for you then it can impact on a game and it did. They scored their second, which knocked the stuffing out of us a bit. They shut up shop and it was very difficult then."