STEVE Cook apologised for the handball which saw him sent off earlier this month and admitted: “It was bad judgement from myself”.

Cook was dismissed during the first half of Cherries’ crucial Premier League clash against rock-bottom Norwich City at Carrow Road.

The centre-back leapt through the air to brilliantly tip Ondrej Duda’s shot onto the post to earn his marching orders, but Teemu Pukki netted the resulting penalty to secure a 1-0 victory.

Cook, who had never been sent off before in his career, was subsequently suspended and missed the following victory over Brighton.

But the 28-year-old returned to the team in Monday night’s FA Cup loss against Arsenal.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the red card, Cook told the Daily Echo: “Obviously it was not ideal, far from it. I let the players down at the time and the fans that travelled, so it wasn’t good.

“It was something I didn’t probably get the chance to think through. It was bad judgement from myself.

“We have had two games since then, but I haven’t had the chance to apologise to the fans that travelled then.

“It was just one of them that I will try and never do again.”

He added: “I received a lot of criticism from the outside, which was fully deserved.

“Now it’s down to me. I feel that I can still give something back massively to the club and that’s what I’m looking forward to do.” Asked about receiving messages over Twitter and Instagram relating to the incident, Cook said: “Social media is a great way to communicate with the fans, but, equally, sometimes it’s not nice.

“But you’ve got to take the good with the bad. It’s one of them – if you’re on it, you have to accept it.

“Some of the stuff you do receive is not very nice at all, but you are still a human being.

“It’s difficult to read sometimes.

“I tried staying off it as much as I could. I still have now because I think it went quite big, which is not something you want as a football player doing something wrong.

“But I am quite strong with my mentality anyway.

“The only people I worry about are my team-mates, the staff and the Bournemouth fans.”

Cook is expected to keep his place for Saturday’s vital contest against Aston Villa at Vitality Stadium (3pm).

Just two points and two positions separate the sides in the battle to avoid the drop.

Many pundits have taken aim at Cherries in recent weeks as they slid into the relegation zone, but Cook says that only serves as motivation for the squad.

“The criticism you get from everyone else is fine,” he insisted.

“It makes myself more hungry – and the team.

“The criticism the team get is warranted sometimes but it makes us more hungry and we want to prove everyone wrong.”