Howe: "We must turn all of our energies against the world outside, we must become very internal and use all the negativity around us"
Monday 20 January 2020 10:28, UK
Eddie Howe has vowed to save Bournemouth from Premier League relegation and insists it is them against the world.
The Cherries find themselves inside the drop zone, three points adrift of safety, following defeat to bottom-placed Norwich on Saturday and have now failed to score in four consecutive Premier League games - their worst run in the top flight.
Bournemouth have won just two Premier League games from their last 17 attempts - against Chelsea and Manchester United respectively - and next face fellow south coast club Brighton at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday.
"We've talked a lot internally about our spirit and how that shows on the pitch," Howe said on Monday. "At times it has been there, but at other times it has not been evident.
"That consistency, and that mindset, has to be there in every moment in every game until the end of the season. That's what we're focusing on, fighting back collectively with our supporters and with everyone connected to the club.
"We must turn all of our energies against the world outside, we must become very internal and use all the negativity around us in a positive way, to show that we are still fighting and we can do it."
Brighton, who are five points ahead of Bournemouth in 15th, also head into the game in poor form with just one victory from their last eight Premier League matches, which came against the Cherries on December 28.
Howe insisted that his team will "keep going and trying to prove people wrong" with another big match next Saturday coming against Aston Villa, who are one place above the Dorset side in the relegation fight.
"You live and breathe every second of it," the Bournemouth boss added. "It affects your life, it affects everything. In your own mind, when you're not doing the job you want to do, defined by results, it really hurts.
"For me there is only one way to react; by fighting back, to keep going and trying to prove people wrong. It doesn't make me question my role at the club at all, it makes me focused on my role, to win football matches.
"All my playing career served as a good tool for this moment. It wasn't particularly successful so I am drawing back on all those feelings and setbacks, having to find solutions to problems.
"My management career is the same. Lots of difficult moments. I have a bank of experiences to fall back on and I am going to need that now.
"The [possibility of the] Championship and next season is the furthest thing from my mind. It's about now, it's about trying to win games. We are very close to the teams above us."
Bournemouth are in talks with Borussia Dortmund over a deal to sign Jacob Bruun Larsen in the January transfer window, but Howe was coy on those reports.
"My main focus is preparing for Brighton," he said. "[There are] no updates on any incomings."
