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Nathan Ake has revealed how Bournemouth pushed the boat out to ‘wet’ their appetite for the the new season — by racing each other in canoes and rafts.

And the Cherries have looked more likely to float like a pedalo than sink like a brig after responding to their water-bonding with back-to-back wins over Cardiff and West Ham.

Dutch defender Ake, who has won seven caps for Holland, was watched by his national team coach Ronald Koeman in Saturday's 2-1 come-from-behind defeat of the Hammers that maintained Bournemouth’s 100 per cent record.

Koeman didn’t get his feet wet at the Taxpayers stadium, which is more than can be said for manager Eddie Howe’s players on their pre-season trip to Spain.

(Image: Getty)

Howe let his players kept their spirits up with a water sports gala – and Ake says it helped to foster their competitive instincts when the Premier League started on dry land.

He said: “The team is very focused and we don’t pay much attention to what is being said or going on outside the club.

“We have a great team spirit which started in pre-season with little things outside football. When we were in Spain, we had little competitions with rafting and canoes.

(Image: AFC Bournemouth/Getty)

“That kind of thing helps to bring the team together and you can see how competitive everyone is then!

“It just shows how much we want to win things, and that spirit is coming out in our performances at the moment.

“The squad we have this season is one of the best we’ve had. Everyone in the team understands his position, knows what he is doing and has a mindset to do well for the team.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

“Maybe people underestimated us before because our stadium is small, but not any more.

“This is our fourth season in the Premier League, but we don’t look at things like that.

“We have good organisation – last season we were quite open in a lot of games, but we have worked a lot on defence because we conceded too many goals last year and that was one area we needed to improve.”