BOSS Eddie Howe says Cherries’ Championship destiny is in their own hands but is adopting a safety-first approach.

Back-to-back wins over Doncaster and Blackpool have left Cherries 13 points above the drop zone and 13 shy of the final play-off place.

Asked for his take on the league table, Howe said: “It is very interesting. Leicester looked like they had run away with it and Burnley have done unbelievably well to build a gap in second place.

“But there are still so many games to go and so many points to play for that nothing has yet been decided. I still think there is the potential for one of the chasing pack to get involved with the automatic places and there are still so many clubs which could get involved in the top six.

“It is so tight in and around where we are at the moment so it is up to someone to put together a run to see if they want to get there.

“We would love to go on a run. We have just achieved our first back-to-back wins for a while and are now looking to try to make it three. We are looking at things in the short term and on a game-by-game basis.

“We haven’t been consistent enough in our results and haven’t provided enough consecutive victories to move up the table and need to address those issues.

“But I do believe we are a real force to be reckoned with on our day and it is just a case of finding that consistency to make us into a top team.

“First and foremost, we have to do enough to keep our place in the league and then look beyond that once we have achieved that target. But until we have reached that, I don’t think there is any point in looking anywhere else.

“We know we have a lot of work to do and have some big games coming up against the teams around us. I think all possibilities are still with us so it is very much in our hands.”