Lee Hughes put Notts in the lead twice, but goals from Brett Pitman and Jeff Goulding earned Bournemouth a share of the spoils.

Cotterill, looking back at the game, felt that the result was a fair reflection of the 90 minutes.

He said: "I think overall we didn't do enough to win the game, we didn't deserve it.

"At 2-1 I always felt we needed another goal, but having said that we were one header away and 20 seconds away from seeing the game out.

"I thought the game had gone and it felt like a defeat because of the time of the goal.

"When it is 2-1 you drop a little deeper and we invited a few big balls into the box.

"It's natural but we wanted to be in the other half and press for a third."

He added: "The injury to Neal Bishop disrupted us a little bit.

"I like his athleticism in there with Ricky Ravenhill but we had to change it and stiffen the area of pitch up again."

Notts boss is encouraged by his start at the club, having taken 13 points from a possible 15.

He said: "When I came in we were seventh and without the four wins we would have been in trouble.

"It's okay, it's not the end of the world and we will look after the lads after their day at Cheltenham."

He continued: "We need to get back to basics and keep this run going - unbeaten in five and one defeat in a dozen.

"The players have been first class and they will bounce back - they're a durable mob.

"We have gone up another place so there are lots of positives to be taken."