CHERRIES defender Marcos Senesi believes the international break represents a chance to “restart” and “fix things” following defeat to Aston Villa.

Argentinian international Senesi played the full 90 minutes as his side fell to a 3-0 defeat in the West Midlands, goals from Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia putting Cherries to the sword.

With a two-week gap in fixtures until Cherries return to action with the visit of Fulham to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, April 1 (kick-off 3pm), the former Feyenoord defender believes the final break allows Cherries to reset and take stock ahead of the run-in.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, the 25-year-old shared: “Of course,  (Villa) was a chance we could take some points after the few results before, but it is a pity.

“We have to go again now. We have two weeks to restart, to fix things and go.

“I think we have to forget this, watch maybe the game again and watch where the mistakes are and work on it, and fix it for the next game.”
With no more Premier League fixtures in March, April could be a deciding month in the relegation battle for Cherries. After home games with midtable Fulham and Brighton, they travel to fellow strugglers Leicester.

A trip to Champions League hopefuls Tottenham Hotspurs separates the trip to the Foxes from a gauntlet of games against teams in the mire at the bottom of the table.

Cherries end April with a run of three games in eight days, hosting West Ham and Leeds United either side of a trip across the New Forest to face current bottom side Southampton.

In May Cherries also have trips to Crystal Palace and Everton, with Senesi aware that his team face a lot of six-pointers in the final two months.

He continued: “I think we have to play against all the teams we are fighting with in the relegation (battle).

“(Villa) was a game where we could take some points because I think after they score we got some momentum, but yeah, at the end we lost and that's it.”

Cherries’ miserable afternoon in Birmingham was compounded by that fact that the Villans’ final goal came from a set-piece, Buendia finding it easy to nod home at a corner.

It is the 16th time Cherries have conceded from a set-play this campaign, with a further six goals against from the penalty spot.

“I think it’s something that we were working on,” mused Senesi.

“The last few games, we didn't concede by corners or free kicks.

“It is a pity that they scored (from a corner), but we have to go again. It is also perhaps their strength (scoring from set-pieces.)”