Dickov is wary of backlash from Bournemouth

The two teams promoted automatically from League One last season have made steady starts to life in the second tier, though the big anomaly is the Cherries’ away form.

Eddie Howe’s side have been thrashed 6-1 by Watford and 5-1 by Huddersfield on their travels in the League this season, which is the antithesis of home form that has reaped home wins against Charlton and Wigan.

Rovers have started confidently, with a win over Blackburn and a draw at Wigan two of their more notable performances.

They also led 3-1 at Charlton last Saturday before the game was abandoned due to heavy rain.

But Dickov is wise enough to know that Howe’s side are better than their wretched early-season away form suggests.

“I don’t think we can look into the other results they’ve had away from home because they took the beating they did at Watford and then went and beat Wigan, so it just shows you that anything can happen in this division,” he said.

“We’ve had them scouted a good three or four times this season, because the way the fixtures have worked out they played Watford, who we’re playing shortly, and Huddersfield.

“So we’ve seen plenty of them and we know what to expect, and that we have to be at our very best against them.

“Even as stupid as it seems in the Watford game, they were in the game for long spells and caused Watford problems.

“There’s pressure on us but there’s pressure on you every game you play, whether it be Blackburn, Wigan, Charlton, Leeds or Bournemouth.

“We want to put pressure on ourselves because we want to test ourselves.

“Eddie Howe’s teams always play good football. I know the results have been a little inconsistent, but they’ve got players that can hurt you.

“They’ve got players who play good football. It’s a game we’re looking forward to because we want to get the other night out of our system as quickly as we can.

“You have to react when you have a defeat and there’s no better place to do that than at home.”

That defeat was a 3-1 reverse at home to Leeds United in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday, a result that capped a strange week that had begun with such promise in the teeming rain at Charlton, when Rovers raced into a 3-0 lead.

“We feel we should be sitting on seven points and looking upwards,” said Dickov.

“But we cannot let Charlton fester. We have to draw a line under that and be positive.”