ASMIR Begovic called for Cherries to “regroup” during the international break and stressed the need to bounce back.

The Cherries stopper was beaten twice in the opening period as Eddie Howe’s men fell to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle.

Salomon Rondon’s double proved pivotal as Cherries suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

But with 20 points from their opening 12 games, the Bosnian stopper refused to panic.

He told the Daily Echo: “On the whole, we still have to be upbeat. It’s a chance for us to regroup now.

“It’s a long season and there will be ups and downs, no doubt about it. We have to bounce back from the past couple of weeks and come back stronger for the festive period ahead.”

Assessing Saturday’s setback, the 31-year-old added: “It was an all-round difficult afternoon. We never quite hit our levels and that was disappointing.

“We stayed in the game long enough to give ourselves a chance to get a positive result. With a bit of luck at the other end and one of those going in, things could have been a lot different.”

Begovic also revealed he had been forced to pull out of the Bosnia-Herzegovina squad due to a thumb injury.