ANDONI Iraola insisted his side must find a way to avoid dropping further points from winning positions.

In their last four games, Cherries have dropped a total of six points after going on to draw against West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United despite leading in all three games.

Iraola could not exactly place a finger on why his side could not hold onto leads, saying that he did not feel as if side had played worse after going ahead.

Iraola told the Daily Echo: “This we cannot deny has happened.

“We were winning games that we have finished in a tie.

“I haven't felt that we've gotten worse in the second half, we haven't finished well the games. “But it's true that we've lost points from winning positions in the last three, four games and they are points that don't return.”

Cherries are in action this evening (5.30pm) when they host Manchester City.

In 13 Premier League fixtures against the Cityzens, Cherries have only taken the lead just once, losing all encounters.

After the return fixture that saw Cherries lose 6-1 away at the Etihad, Iraola admitted in an interview with El País​ that he had sent the “worst message” to his players by deploying five defenders.

Asked if he had learnt anything from that tactical faux pas, Iraola replied: “I hope I've learned something!

“Definitely it was not a good decision for me to play with five defenders.

“But we can also adopt the same structure with four defenders and a midfielder playing lower, we can do different things.

“We can even play with five defenders, but not play the same way.

“It's not about the number of defenders.

“Looking at the first 20 or 30 minutes now I've reviewed the game, we didn't play so bad.

“I had a worse feeling when I was there, but I don't think it's the way that gives us more chances against them.”

In recent weeks Illia Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi have formed a partnership in the heart of defence, with Iraola praising the duo.

“I think they are playing very well,” he continued.

“I think they are defending really well.

“The other day we conceded two goals, but I think defensively we were good.

“It’s a penalty, that we were talking about, and the second goal come through a slip, through some rebounds.

"They are goals that they don't especially come from big mistakes.

“But we have to find a way to not to concede these kind of goals because it happened against Fulham after a slip.

“I think these things are taking points from us and it's difficult to control, but we have to do it.”