Friday 7 April 2017 15:43, UK
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe feels his side have the momentum to blow the Premier League title race wide open by beating Chelsea.
The Cherries are unbeaten in five, having earned points at Old Trafford and Anfield, where Josh King netted a dramatic late equaliser on Wednesday evening.
Howe has now challenged his players to continue their fine form to stun the current Premier League leaders in Saturday's 5:30pm kick-off at the Vitality Stadium.
"We are feeling good and confident at the moment," Howe said.
"Our home form has been very good, we have won our last two here and performed well away in the last two as well, against Southampton and Liverpool, which were really big points for us.
"If we can continue that momentum we have a chance.
"We have to maximise (ourselves) in every game, be difficult to break down, and we have been able to do that recently, so the next two (matches) are going to be similar types."
Bournemouth were beaten 3-0 at Stamford Bridge the last time the two sides met, but Howe feels his side have recently shown that they can hold their own against the top teams.
"It reinforces our belief we can get points against anybody, we have always believed that this season," he said.
"We do need the team to perform, every unit, at a very high level and we had that against Liverpool.
"We showed the character and belief you need, because even when you are chasing games you have to believe you can score a goal at any time to get something from it, that is a really important quality to have."
The Cherries are currently in 13th place with 35 points - seven clear of the relegation zone - and Howe admits there is still work for his side to do to secure their safety.
"You have to get over the line, to finish the job off and that would be the view from our perspective, we still need points ourselves," he said.
"At the start of the season it was all about getting over 42 points, which was our total from last year and that is still our aim."
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