CROWD favourite Marc Pugh admitted Cherries needed to drastically up their game and said of the supporters: "We owe them one."

Pugh was part of a much-changed Cherries side condemned to a hugely disappointing FA Cup defeat at the hands of League One Millwall last Saturday.

But following the premature third-round exit, Eddie Howe's side have an immediate chance to bounce back in their Premier League clash with strugglers Hull City tomorrow (3pm).

And Lancastrian Pugh, who joined Cherries from Hereford for a bargain £100,000 in June 2010, feels his team must put on a display which does the fans proud.

He told the Daily Echo: "It wasn't a very good performance at Millwall, individually and collectively. You can't dwell on performances like that but it wasn't good enough.

"We took a load of fans there and didn't put on a good display for them. We owe them one now and there is no better way to do that than at Hull at the weekend – I'm sure they will travel in their numbers.

"We've had a tough week's training and don't want to let that sort of result happen again.

"It's one of those things where in the long run it could be good for us in the Premier League, with a lot of fixtures coming thick and fast.

"Hull and Watford are going to be tough games but we have the belief in the dressing room that we can put a run together and, hopefully, secure our status in the top half of the table."

Cherries' record top-flight victory came against Hull in October, when they trounced the Tigers 6-1 at Vitality Stadium.

Mike Phelan was sacked as boss last week and replaced by former Olympiakos manager Marco Silva, who has been tasked with lifting the injury-ravaged KCOM Stadium side to safety.

Pugh continued: "It's a difficult time for Hull but no game is easy in this league.

"No matter how few bodies you've got, if you've got great characters in the dressing room and people who want to win matches, then it's going to be difficult for the opposing side.

"It would be nice to play the way we did when we played them on home soil but it doesn't come as easily as that. We're not going to go there and win 6-1, we're sure about that.

"We've got to be dogged and, hopefully, our quality will shine through."

Pugh was speaking to the Daily Echo at Leaf Studio, where he and team-mate Ryan Fraser pitched in to help after motivational speaker and memory expert David Thomas spoke to members of the club's academy.

Thomas, who holds a world record for memorising playing cards, was hired by Strategic Solutions Financial Services to inspire young players in their academic studies.