MANAGER Eddie Howe is determined to see his class of 2013 go on to earn the right to join the AFC Bournemouth all-time greats.

Howe wants his current squad to be inducted in the Dean Court hall of fame alongside Harry Redknapp’s heroes of 1987 and John Bond’s team of the 1970s.

Cherries edged closer to gaining promotion to the second flight for only the second time in their history following Saturday’s 3-0 drubbing of Shrewsbury.

A club record-equalling seventh league win on the trot helped them maintain a two-point cushion in second place with just two games remaining of the regular season.

It matched a feat achieved under late manager Bond when he led Cherries to runners-up spot in Division Four in 1971 before they were pipped to a second successive promotion the following season.

Cherries eventually won a place in the second tier in 1987 when Redknapp memorably guided them to the old Division Three championship.

Howe, speaking to the Daily Echo, said: “Around the town, those are the two teams that get talked about more than any other. Supporters and people associated with the club remember those eras and those players, and quite rightly so.

“You will never take away from how good those teams and players were. They had characters and you will never stop people talking about them.

“Our aim is to try to build a new team and one that Bournemouth supporters will talk about for many years to come. We want people to recall the great moments that, hopefully, this team can give them and the town. We are doing our best to try to take this club to the level it was before.”

Howe, who presided over a 15-match unbeaten league run immediately after returning to the club in October, revealed he had used the seven successive wins statistic to motivate his players against Shrewsbury.

He added: “It is always good to look back through history to see what has been done before. It gives you an extra edge and extra motivation to want to match it and we were keen to do it. I was surprised it was only seven. I thought there would have been more consecutive wins and we would love to put that right next week by making it eight if we could.”

Cherries chalked up another memorable milestone at Shrewsbury with a fourth consecutive clean sheet on the road matching a feat last achieved by the club in 1981. Howe’s men have not conceded a goal on their travels in 371 minutes.

Howe added: “That tells you a lot because it is very difficult to keep clean sheets away from home. The fact we have got four is testament to the character and mentality because it would have been easy to concede late on and win 3-1 but the lads were determined to shut them out.”