BOSS Scott Parker insisted he needed to see a reaction from his Cherries’ players after they were left licking their wounds at Derby.

The Dorset club suffered a 3-2 defeat against the rock-bottom Rams at Pride Park on Sunday.

Tom Lawrence’s second-half brace turned the game on its head and meant Cherries missed the chance to return to the top of the Championship, after Fulham’s win against Barnsley on Saturday.

Parker’s side, who had not conceded away from home in the league since August until Sunday, now face another tough trip on the road against Millwall at The Den on Wednesday night.

“Every game is big for us. Sunday was big,” admitted the Cherries boss.

“Obviously now, Wednesday night, after a loss of course, I need a reaction. It’s a big opportunity now.

“We will look to bounce back.”

Goals from Dominic Solanke and Jaidon Anthony had put Cherries in the box seat at 2-1 up against Derby before Lawrence stole the show for the hosts.

Reflecting further on his team’s latest defeat, Parker added: “There’s a fine line because what we’ve become accustomed to seeing with us, is a real dynamic, forward team.

“But I just felt we needed to be a little more brave - we weren’t that at times.

“I don’t think we were outfought. I don’t think we were great out of possession, I didn’t think we were great in duels.

“I just felt we needed to put our stamp on it. We just didn’t look like the team I wanted us to look like, really. Hence why we have been on the end of one.

“We have lost a game of football and you are going to lose games of football – that’s the harsh reality of what we do in a long hard season.

“Of course, I am disappointed and the players will be disappointed because we have lost a game not in a way I’d like us to lose.

“You can always lose games but certainly I just felt we didn’t lose our way. We just didn’t have enough control in certain moments and that was poor.”

Cherries are still in the automatic promotion places, eight points clear of West Bromwich Albion, who sit third in the league table.