SCOTT Parker believes his side slowly lost confidence during the 1-0 defeat to Hull at the weekend, stating that they only “turned up for 45” minutes.

Cherries were on top for the majority of the first-half but failed to make their dominance pay, with Dominic Solanke and Emiliano Marcondes missing notable chances.

In the second-half Hull slowly took control of the game, finding a winner through Ryan Longman 13 minutes from time.

When asked if his side were lacking confidence, Parker stated: “I think there was (a lack of confidence) late on.

“I definitely feel like the longer the game started to go, there seemed a little bit of an edginess to us, there definitely did.

“But a game of football is 90 minutes long and you can’t break down after 55 or 60 minutes or 70 minutes when the other team score and the change of flow is, it’s 90 minutes.

“Today we turned up for 45, wasn’t able to score the goal and then second half we were just nowhere near it in everything about us.”

Despite that admission, Parker remains adamant that his style of play was the right fit for Cherries.

The former Fulham manager continued: “The way we play, our style, I’m not bothered about that.

“There were elements which were poor, didn’t execute, but just our demeanour as a team, our demeanour as men, what you need.

“We just didn’t have that second half.”

Cherries slipped out of the automatic promotion spots last night without playing – as promotion rivals Blackburn Rovers edged past Middlesbrough 1-0.

The Dorset side do have a game in hand on their Lancashire opponents, but 4th placed QPR are poised to overtake both Blackburn and Cherries if they make the most of their two games in hand.

Rangers are two points behind Cherries, who sit third with 49 points, with QPR having the possibility of overtaking Cherries tonight when they take on strugglers Swansea.