ANDREW Surman blamed Cherries' “awful start” for their “very damaging” 6-3 defeat at Everton.

Romelu Lukaku’s explosive strike put the hosts ahead with the fixture only 30 seconds old.

And with Everton then racing into a three-goal lead before the half-hour mark, Surman confessed damage limitation had topped his team’s agenda for the remainder of the opening period.

The midfielder, though, felt there was “only one team in it” as Cherries mounted a sterling second-half fightback – before surrendering to four-goal Lukaku’s ruthless finishing.

Surman told the Daily Echo: “It was an awful start, conceding so quickly somewhere like Goodison Park where it’s raining goals at the minute.

“It was very difficult to recover from that, then after conceding the second and third it became damage limitation to try to stay in the game.

“We got to half-time, regrouped, made a couple of changes, changed the mentality a little bit and said ‘one goal and we’re back in this’.

“We had a right go and at 3-2 there was only one team in it. But for some reason the momentum shifted, they scored two quick goals and the game was over.”

Having conceded 34 goals in their previous 13 games, Cherries' defensive frailties were firmly under the microscope entering the game at Goodison Park.

And the spotlight on that issue will only intensify further after they were hit for six on Merseyside.

“It is very damaging,” added Surman, of the result.

“Coming into this game we had conceded too many goals and to let in six here is not a nice feeling, it’s not nice being on the end of a result like this.

“And for the fans travelling all the way up from Bournemouth, we feel for them as well. They have come a long way to see us concede six goals, which isn’t good enough.

“But we have to try to stay positive. Our fans, I’m sure, will stay with us and get behind us.”

Surman agreed with manager Eddie Howe’s assertion that Cherries’ confidence has been dented by their recent string of poor results.

He is, however, singing from the same hymn sheet as his boss with respect to Howe's insistence that this run of one win in eight league matches is a temporary stumble, as opposed to a terminal problem.

“When you’re conceding goals and losing games, confidence will naturally drop a little bit,” continued Surman.

“I think you could see that in the first half, the confidence went a little bit.

“But it’s up to the lads, we have to stick together. The team spirit has been great at this club since I’ve been here. It’s got us through the tough times and this is a tough time.

“We have to try to ride this period, because we’re not on a great run.

“But football can change very quickly, a lot of teams have gone on a bad run this season and then turned it around, so we have to bounce back.”