EDDIE Howe insists the Dean Court faithful have a vital role to play in helping Cherries rediscover their winning swagger.

Cherries are without a victory in four games and have slipped to fourth in the Championship, a situation Howe is keen to improve.

And the boss has urged supporters to create an intimidating atmosphere when visitors Blackburn step onto the pitch tomorrow afternoon (3pm).

He told the Daily Echo: “We need the supporters now more than at any time during the season. This is the time when we need to stick together.

“We need to try and create a really hostile atmosphere for Blackburn in full support of the players who have given us a magnificent season so far.

“The most important thing for us is that we try to get back to our free-flowing, attacking football. We want to entertain our fans and I think it’s really important that they enjoy watching the team play.

“We have had some outstanding home games this season and we will look to create another one today.”

While disappointed by recent results, Howe insisted everyone at the club would remain level-headed.

He said: “I think we’re very consistent with our approach to results. We don’t get too high when we win games and we try to maintain our work ethic.

“It’s the same when you are not getting the results you desire. As long as your performance levels are good and the commitment of the players is very high, that’s all you can ask for.

“I think you’ve seen that in the games we haven’t won. On Wednesday against Forest we were very good in spells so there is certainly nothing wrong with the team.”

Tenth-placed Blackburn are 15 points adrift of the play-off spots but have a 13-point cushion on the relegation places.

And Howe added: “No matter where you are in the table, there is always something to play for.

“I think you can see that from the Huddersfield and Forest games and Saturday will be another difficult encounter for us against a good side.

"We’ve had some good battles with Blackburn in recent seasons so we will look forward to this one.”