Bournemouth boss Scott Parker says he believes "one million percent" his team can beat Nottingham Forest in next week’s showdown at the Vitality Stadium.
The Reds have chased down the Cherries in the race for second spot. The gap between the two was 18 points shortly after Steve Cooper took charge at the City Ground. It is now down to just three.
Both sides have three games to play and meet each other on the south coast next Tuesday night. Forest have won six of their last seven, and will be aiming to sign off on a high when they host Swansea City in their final home match of the regular season on Saturday.
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Bournemouth, meanwhile, have won just one of their last six fixtures, picking up four draws - including coming from 3-0 down to claim a point against the Swans in midweek. They travel to Blackburn Rovers this weekend. And ahead of that game, Parker has tried to rally his troops.
Asked about the Reds closing in on his team, he told DorsetLive: “I cannot do anything about Forest. Are Forest on an unbelievable run? Yes. Have they been incredible? Yes.
“Have we not got the results in certain moments that we would have liked? Yep, one million per cent. We all know what has happened. The ifs and buts along the way. What happened there? They've done this, they've done that... But it's just not important.
“What I do know is that one million percent we can beat Blackburn. What I do know is that one million percent we can beat Nottingham Forest. What I do know is we can beat Millwall, too.
“So until that changes, until there's a different scenario where you're asking a different question, that's all I know. So that's my focus.
“My focus and my team's focus is Ewood Park on Saturday against Blackburn. Can we win? Yes, we can.
“All we think is what we need to do to win, how we're going to win the game, and then we move on. And the same will be against Nottingham Forest.
“I'm not sitting here with a team or a group of players that I can't say that about. So I don't need to kid anyone.
“The history and the evidence is there for us throughout the season. I don't need to sit here and go, 'I think we can win against Blackburn'. I know we can win. It might not happen. We may not win, or we may draw or whatever is the case. But at this moment, again, that's just ifs and buts.
“What I do know is we're going to go into Blackburn, and we're going to do everything we can to win the game. We're going to show the quality we've got. And then we're going into Tuesday with exactly the same mindset.”
