WINGER Matt Ritchie has backed Cherries to emerge stronger from their sticky spell and insisted: “There is no need to panic.”

Promotion-chasing Cherries have endured a four-match winless run despite dominating for long periods in draws against Derby and Huddersfield and defeats at Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

Eddie Howe’s men head into tomorrow’s home clash with Blackburn Rovers at Dean Court (3pm) with a slender one-point cushion over seventh-placed Brentford having slipped from the Championship summit over the past month.

But Ritchie is adamant that Cherries will rediscover the kind of form that saw them hit top spot – by sticking to the methods that got them there in the first place.

Ritchie told the Daily Echo: “There is no need to panic because we are in a great position.

“If we can continue the form we produced at the beginning of the season then we will soon start picking up the points again.

“It is tight at the top of the league but we expected that. It is a very competitive league and we just have to concentrate on doing what we do best and I am sure if we do that we will be okay.

“We go into every game preparing to win it and believing we can win it but sometimes you get knock backs.

“It is about how you react and we will do everything in our power to prepare correctly, put on a good performance and take all three points against Blackburn.

“The belief is great right throughout the group. The players, the staff, everyone is really upbeat and it is up to us to make sure we keep working hard to get the results we all want.

“Confidence is high still and the focus is there so we have faith that we can put it right.

“We have created chances, played well in parts and been disappointed not to have picked up more points out of the past two or three games.

“Hopefully, we can get back to winning ways and give ourselves a platform for the rest of the season because we have plenty of games left and need to pick up as many points as possible and get to where we all want to be.”