SKIPPER Simon Francis described as “disappointing” the hefty challenge from James Tarkowski which left Ryan Fraser in a heap on Saturday.

Burnley centre-half Tarkowski flew into a header with Cherries’ diminutive winger in the first half, flattening Fraser who was left to receive treatment.

Referee Martin Atkinson gave a throw-in after the challenge, which came after Francis was caught in the head by the boot of Ashley Barnes earlier in the half.

The captain, who received five stitches after the contest, told the Daily Echo: “I am not fussed about the one on my head. I put my head in there, I’ll take that.

“But the one on Wee Man (Fraser) I thought was disappointing from Tarkowski.

“It’s a good challenge, don’t get me wrong but he knows Wee Man is half the height of him and is never going to win the header.

“To put him down on the floor like he did without saying anything afterwards, he could have picked him up, could have checked he was all right.

“That was a nasty challenge. Wee man is suffering now.”

Burnley went on to win the drab contest 1-0 thanks to Jay Rodriguez’s late winner. Referee Atkinson gave 34 fouls and issued six yellow cards.

Francis added: “I did say to the referee that a couple of their players, they buy free-kicks and they like to leave a little bit in there.

“I did mention that before that game and that’s no disrespect to Burnley at all, that’s just making the referee aware of it.

“I don’t think he handled it as well as he could of – a lot of decisions.

“But credit to Burnley, they won the game. That’s their style of play.

“You have to defend at all times when you are playing against them. You know they are going to be direct.

“We didn’t deal with it enough and they got the win.”

Defeat was the third time in a row the Clarets had won at Vitality Stadium.

Sean Dyche’s side checked Cherries’ top-flight progress after a memorable 1-0 victory over Chelsea the week before.

Francis added: “That’s the biggest frustration for us because we wanted to start a run again. Chelsea was the perfect platform, the perfect catalyst.

“But Saturday was polar opposite really. We were good defensively against Chelsea, we were good on Saturday but it was a very different kind of defending.

“Defending a lot of aerial balls, a lot of crosses in the box and we were punished with that late on.

“We have to move on quickly. It’s all about putting the right things together as soon as possible for Boxing Day and the games after that.”