Cherries can't feel downhearted

The upcoming games are all gong to be battles. Every team has something to play for even if it is just scrapping for mid-table. But I believe the recent performances that the Cherries have put in against Leicester, Burnley and Derby have been excellent and they must take those high energy performances into the next few matches to retain their Championship credentials.

The players have been great but it's about time some decisions went their way.

This is not the time for the team to be feeling sorry for itself. They may have been unlucky in some of the recent games and decisions have not always gone the Cherries way. But now they will be playing teams below or in and around them and if they work hard I can see them going several games unbeaten and along way towards safety.

The belief has to be there. Other teams have lost far more heavily to the top teams in the Championship than AFCB. Now that the less confident teams are to play against the Cherries it is time to turn the dominant possession into sharp and accurate attacking play that gets the three points. The back unit is going to get a clean sheet, because they have really started to cut out the individual errors and are giving top teams very few opportunities to score. Against lower opposition though the Cherries must not be complacent but concentrate even harder.

The Cherries fate will largely be decided in the next five or so games. They will either move towards mid-table security or get sucked into a dog right at the bottom of the table. The team has fought hard so far and has improved and learnt a massive amount in the last few months. It's time to start getting the points on the board now. A series of two or three wins will be a huge factor now and while draws will keep the team in contention, Eddie Howe has to work out away of gaining those precious wins at the crunch stage of the season.

Listen to the All Departments' Kangaroo Court with Michael Dunne and Damien Hill on the All Departments' website or scroll down to the podcast on the right hand side panel on Cherry Chimes and click on the sound bar