ADAM Smith conceded there had been no stopping Carles Gil’s stunning opener for Aston Villa – but insisted Cherries should already have been in front.

Gil, a £3.2million acquisition from Spanish club Valencia this month, handed new club Villa the initiative in a nip-and-tuck FA Cup fourth-round tie yesterday.

Cherries had mounted a promising attack of their own but got caught on the break with Leandro Bacuna teeing up Gil to stride inside and curl home a sublime effort from the right corner of the penalty area.

Villa went on to double their lead through Andreas Weimann and secured a safe passage to the last 16 despite Callum Wilson’s stoppage-time strike.

But Smith was adamant Cherries had paid the price for not making the most of a strong first-half showing rather than sloppy defending.

Smith, a former Spurs and England under-21 full-back, told the Daily Echo: “We were the better team in the first half and should have taken our chances.

“Unfortunately, if you do not score when you are on top against Premier League teams you get punished and that happened to us.

“We were on the attack when they broke and, to be fair to him, he cut inside and bent it round everyone.

“It was a top strike and there was nothing we could have done.

“It was quality play and sometimes you have to accept that.

“We could have done a little better with the second goal but our best chance was at 0-0 when we got at them.”

And Smith, who has started just four Championship matches so far this season, wants to use Cherries’ cup exploits as a catalyst for more league action.

“These games give me a good opportunity to show the manager what I can do.

“I have not played as many games as I would have liked.

“I came here to play football but it has been difficult because the team has performed so well.”