DEFENDER Steve Cook admitted Cherries’ next month was “massive” and insisted “putting words into action” would be key over the coming weeks.

Eddie Howe’s men are now in the bottom three of the Premier League heading into Sunday’s huge showdown against fellow strugglers Watford at Vitality Stadium (2pm).

The Dorset club have won just once in their past 10 top-flight encounters - picking up only four points in the process.

But with the likes of Norwich, Brighton and Aston Villa to come in the league following the clash with the Hornets, Cook is keen to push away from the drop-zone.

He told the Daily Echo: “We’ve got a massive month. We’ve got the teams around us.

“If we don’t pick up the points we need this month, it’s four, five, six weeks and it’s going to be very difficult for us.”

Defeat to the Hornets would plunge Cherries further in trouble and Cook insisted Nigel Pearson’s men will provide a tough test.

“Watford, it was a surprise for me to be down the bottom anyway,” he added.

“They’ve got a very good squad.

“Like West Ham, a change of manager, and we always seem to be the ones that are facing the fresh team.”

Cook said: “We know where we are. We’ve been in this for the past two or three weeks. But we gave ourselves, at the start, a half-decent points tally.

“We know we can win games, it’s just doing it. Putting the words into action, there’s no excuses.”