HEAD coach Jonathan Woodgate stressed the need to keep his players “fit” and “fresh” ahead of Cherries’ play-off season finale.

The Dorset club have endured a hectic schedule over the past 10 days, with away games against Norwich and Millwall coming before Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Brentford.

And with a top-six place now confirmed, the Cherries boss is eager for his team to peak at just the right time.

“I think a lot of the players looked a bit tired and jaded from the week’s travels,” Woodgate told the Daily Echo.

“At Norwich, we got back at 4.30 in the morning.

“Then Millwall we got back at 12.30. We went Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday - which was tough and then the early kick-off at 12.30 (on Saturday) didn’t help.

“But that’s the way it goes – no complaints – they (Brentford) were the better team.”

Cherries now have no midweek games of the regular season remaining - with Saturday fixtures against Wycombe and Stoke to round off the league schedule before the play-offs.

Asked how key it would be to have more time working on the training ground, Woodgate replied: “That’s a big thing to be fair – and keeping them fit, keeping them fresh – so they will need to do a bit of rest as well.

“They have had a hectic schedule.”