Tuesday 31 March 2015 13:39, UK
Former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley believes Bournemouth are capable of holding their nerve and clinching promotion to the Premier League.
The Cherries are a point clear of Watford and Middlesbrough at the top of the Sky Bet Championship with seven games of the season remaining, with Norwich, Derby and Ipswich all snapping at their heels in the play-off spots.
Eddie Howe's men travel to Ipswich on Friday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD, and, after seeing them at close quarters recently as they thrashed Fulham 5-1 at Craven Cottage, Curbishley maintains that Bournemouth can spring a shock and seal a place in the top flight.
"I saw them first hand a couple of weeks ago when they beat Fulham and I think Eddie Howe has got a settled side, they've got a certain way of playing and it is working very well for them," the Fulham coach told Sky Sports News HQ.
"They had a hungry attitude; the players looked as if they wanted more and they kept going throughout the 90 minutes so I can't see why they can't go and do it.
Pole position
"I think they have just strengthened recently with Kenwyne Jones going in there so they have got all their bases covered for the run-in. They have got a couple of big games coming up but why not? They have done fantastically well all season."
They have got a team with no pressure on them to get promoted, a squad of hungry players, and a very good manager who has a set style of play.
Bournemouth find themselves in pole position having only secured their Football League status on the last day of the season in 2008/09.
And former Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce thinks Eddie Howe and his players have exceeded expectations during their fantastic campaign.
He said: "I think we all thought they would be in the top 10, probably somewhere between sixth and 10th from the offset; that's how I saw it.
"I thought Derby and Norwich would be the big contenders but we played them early on at Forest and we ended up winning 2-1 down at Bournemouth and it should have been 5-0 to them. It was incredible - they were outstanding and they played really well on the night.
"They have got a team with no pressure on them to get promoted, a squad of hungry players, and a very good manager who has a set style of play.
"It has taken them two years to get out of every league and that has given them the chance to build a football club and that is obviously a luxury which isn't afforded to many teams in the Championship."
Elsewhere Derby, who are now five points off the automatic promotion spots, will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Watford on Friday night, also live on Sky Sports 1.
Pearce had tipped Derby for promotion a month ago but said the nature of the league makes things difficult to predict.
When asked who he thought would go up, Pearce said: “I would say Watford definitely one of them, but it changes. It's any two from five.
"I sat in this seat about four or five weeks ago and said Derby for me would be one of the two teams getting promoted and the Championship being the Championship you never can tell.
'Head-to-head'
“It's going to be in the run-in who holds their nerves the best and the head-to-head between some of the big teams. Middlesbrough play a lot of the big teams coming up, they've got favourable results at this moment in time and it's the importance of those favourable results, I think.”
The race for the play-offs is quite incredible because there are hardly any points between five or six clubs.
Pearce and Curbishley said the race for promotion via the play-offs was also captivating, and with just a few points separating several clubs in the top eight spots both believe a key factor will be keeping players fit for the run-in.
"The race for the play-offs is quite incredible because there are hardly any points between five or six clubs,” Curbishley said. “Someone is going to sneak in there and win the play-off final and there are some big clubs and some smaller clubs as well so it's a fascinating Championship this year."
Pearce said: “It ties in with injuries as well. Five weeks ago Derby were playing Chris Martin who was the focal point, he gets injured and since then I think they've picked up two out of 15 points, so injuries to key players at any club is going to be vital.”
