STEVE Cook says Cherries are confident of making another strong start to the Premier League season.

In 2018-19, Cherries sat up in sixth after collecting 20 points from their opening 10 matches.

And with 2019-20 beginning on Saturday at home against Sheffield United (3pm), followed by a trip to fellow newly-promoted outfit Aston Villa, Cook has his eyes on another fast start, although he is wary of the threat from the Blades.

The centre-back told the Daily Echo: "We've been a Premier League team for a while now and we know how we felt when we first came into the Premier League.

"It's going to be a tough game. We're at home, we want to have a similar start to the season like we did last year and they're games that we're targeting wins from obviously and we can hopefully kick on from there."

Asked if Sheffield United would be somewhat of an unknown quantity, Cook added: "I'm sure the manager and the coaching staff have seen them enough.

"I don't think we'll be right now thinking about them too much, it's how we approach the game.

"I think if we're on it, we can beat any team.

"We showed that last year, when we performed well, we brushed teams aside.

"Against Lyon we were excellent. If we can take that into this week, I'm sure we'll start the season well."