BOSS Eddie Howe insists Cherries will not waste time gazing down from the Championship summit despite presiding over another feast of goals at Blackpool.

Cherries made light of a patchy playing surface to hit the struggling Seasiders for six this afternoon with Matt Ritchie (2), Callum Wilson, Brett Pitman, Marc Pugh and Harry Arter on the scoresheet at Bloomfield Road.

The 6-1 mauling, coupled with a draw for Derby and defeat for Middlesbrough, gave Cherries a one-point lead over Ipswich at the top with third-placed Brentford two behind but Howe was quick to play down his side’s lofty perch.

“It has been a good day but I don’t think we will look too much at the table at this stage. It is just about trying to get wins because we are still in the first part of the season," said Howe.

“I’m delighted with where we are and where the team is at the minute but there are big tests to come with plenty of twists and turns.

“I don’t think we expected to be where we are. I don’t necessarily think the individual performances are surprising me, maybe more how quickly the team is developing.

“We are in there at the minute but we don’t want to get too carried away with ourselves and say we can achieve things at the end of the season, we just want to keep ticking along.”

Asked whether the performance had been one of Cherries' best this season, Howe said: “I think it was right up there and was all the more impressive when you consider the pitch.

“When we got here we were disappointed with the state of it and thought it would be a difficult afternoon.

"We were expecting a tough game anyway and felt it would make our task even harder but credit to the players because nothing changed, we went about our business as we always do.

“You don’t realise how bad it is until you walk on it but the quality of football did not really befit that so it was a great performance.”

Howe continued: “The second goal was very important for us. We dominated without creating many chances in the first half but that is not out of the ordinary for us.

“When you dominate the ball as we do, there is a period where you are trying to wrest control of the game.

“Once you do that and the game opens up in the second half you like to think that your dominance will help you and that was certainly the case.

"We looked very fit and strong and like we could score at will.”