Cherries: 'Big game player' Brett can keep promotion bid on track

7:12am Friday 22nd March 2013 in Sport

BOSS Eddie Howe is backing “big-game player” Brett Pitman to keep delivering the goods as Cherries bid to maintain the heat on their League One promotion rivals.

Pitman has netted 12 times since returning to Dean Court from Bristol City in November, climbing to seventh in Cherries’ list of all-time leading league goalscorers.

The Jersey-born striker helped Cherries stop the rot of five successive defeats by scoring the only goal in back-to-back away victories at Stevenage – a penalty – and Oldham.

Pitman will be hoping to add to his tally when Cherries host Bury tomorrow (3pm), the 25-year-old having re-opened his account for the club in a 2-2 draw at Gigg Lane in November.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Brett is a big-game player and he thrives on the atmosphere. He took his goal at Oldham excellently and was unlucky with a couple of other efforts.

“He hadn’t had a lot of football prior to joining us and had spent a lot of time watching games and getting five or 10 minutes at the end.

“That was never going to be conducive to him coming here and hitting the ground running.

“He was never going to be able to perform at his optimum straight away and needed a bit of time to get going. I think we are seeing the best of him now and, hopefully, he is going to be a big player for us in the next seven games.”

Howe embarked on a midweek spying mission when he made the 500-mile round trip to Bury to see the Shakers score twice in the final eight minutes to record a 2-0 win over Stevenage, a victory which saw them climb off the foot of the table.

He said: “They are a very committed team and are fighting hard to achieve their objective. We know from the first game against them that they work very hard and will never give up so are expecting another tough test.

“It will be great to be back on home soil. Going into the match on the back of two away wins will give us confidence. We have moved back into the play-off places and, hopefully, we can start another good home run.

“We were resolute defensively and defended for our lives in the two away games, especially at Oldham where we had to dig deep.

“I think that had been a criticism labelled at us at times this season and there had been question marks about whether we had it in us. I think we showed we had in the two games and they were big results for us.”

Comments(15)

TedMacsCherryPants says...
7:49am Fri 22 Mar 13

Dear Boys,

It’s the wife’s birthday next week and I didn’t have a clue what to get her then suddenly I thought of it……I’ll get her something from AFCB….so can she have 3 points please??

Many Thanks

TedMacs’
UTC!!!

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Frankiesbackfromhollywood says...
7:54am Fri 22 Mar 13

It's my Dads' Birthday next week too, best get him 3 points, so all we need are another 5 Birthdays and we've got promotion in the bag then!! Good to see Brett hitting form at just the right time, we also have the Captain and Charlie back so all good, I can't wait to see MR out wide right and doing what he does best, really looking forward to the game tomorrow, let's hope the weather doesn't get in the way of what could be a great afternoons football!! UTCIAD!!

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CherryChimes says...
8:34am Fri 22 Mar 13

Let's hope for three points on Saturday. The Cherries need to score more goals at home. If you support the Cherries keep checking http://afcbchimes.bl
ogspot.co.uk

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AFCB Badger says...
9:13am Fri 22 Mar 13

Is anyone else fed up of reading about Brett not having had much football prior to rejoining us As far as I can see he has been playing non stop since November so should be at his sharpest by now. To be honest without his goals we would be out of contention by now so I will pay due homage to the banded legged one at tomorrows game

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West moors 1 says...
9:50am Fri 22 Mar 13

Goals are starting to come but it's a team game and midfield have to create the chances. Would love to of seen Tubbs get a run out also, he's never been liked by EH but given a proper opportunity he could get the goals we so desperately need. Lets keep fingers crossed the pitch isn't water logged tomorrow. Up the cherries!

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mark.s says...
9:51am Fri 22 Mar 13

Brett plays slightly differently to his old time here, Bristol must have changed him a little. He tracks back a but more, moves around more, but has lost a certain something from the penalty box. He'll get there, and he's still a solid source of goals.

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Deancourt2013 says...
12:00pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Eddie howe's Barmy army

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golfer33 says...
1:12pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Would like to see Grabben stay out of our penalty area at corners and free kicks.

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coops1965 says...
1:50pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Come on you reds, and as for you pitbull, score more goals, simple.

Joking aside he is a class player but my god is he frustrating but nevertheless a class act. 3 points tomorrow no question.

U T C I A D.

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ducky24 says...
2:16pm Fri 22 Mar 13

I hope Brett scores another hat trick tomorrow! Not only do we need to get the 3 points, but we also need to improve our Goal Difference. It will be a crying shame if we miss out on promotion due to GD. We have scored 61 goals, which is the highest in League One. We've spoiled it by letting so many in at the other end!

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afcb-loyal says...
3:10pm Fri 22 Mar 13

golfer33 wrote:
Would like to see Grabben stay out of our penalty area at corners and free kicks.
totally agree with ya golfer33, his arm flapping in the box is costly.
Think Brett plays better when high on confidence and when the crowd are behind him. 3 points are a must tomorrow so lets get behind Brett and the other 10 and enjoy singing "We are going up" COYR.

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Masirah Mick says...
5:44pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Calling from Gloucestershire. Does anyone know whether or not tomorrows match is in any jeopardy with all the rain that has been falling in Bournemouth?

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Football banning order yob says...
6:25pm Fri 22 Mar 13

No chance of game being off.. Best surface in league 1

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bigfatsteve says...
8:09pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Frankiesbackfromholl
ywood wrote:
It's my Dads' Birthday next week too, best get him 3 points, so all we need are another 5 Birthdays and we've got promotion in the bag then!! Good to see Brett hitting form at just the right time, we also have the Captain and Charlie back so all good, I can't wait to see MR out wide right and doing what he does best, really looking forward to the game tomorrow, let's hope the weather doesn't get in the way of what could be a great afternoons football!! UTCIAD!!
Yeah I'll go with you on this one Frankie! It's my son Tom's 21st next week, Cherries through and through,his first game was Wembley 98 at six years old. Happy days. Three points on Saturday won't be easy with Bury beating Stevenage 2-0 in midweek. Yet with the team back to full strength we now have no excuses. So now your almost hitting 11 stone, here's a Happy 21st Birthday to you Big Fat Tom from Surbiton and three points to the Cherries on Saturday!

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raybren says...
8:49pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Letters page of Echo today repeats an " experts " view on Charlie Sheringham ' s situation . The comment is from SHIMTO , must be a cousin of our No . 1 scout from Lincolnshire !

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