PICTURES of Cherries' players racing go-karts in Dubai this week were remarkably apt.

They have broken the back of their Premier League survival mission by beating West Ham and Swansea – but Eddie Howe’s team must now aim to hurtle towards the finish line.

It is not overstating matters to say that Cherries’ next nine matches represent an opportunity for the club to pen the narrative for its future.

Recent form dictates that a top-10 finish is a realistic target. Even if Howe’s side fall short of that aim, though, a significant improvement on last season’s 16th place would alter wider perceptions of the club.

In turn, expectations would change, too. Lay down a marker now and nobody will be viewing Cherries as candidates for the drop next term.

And when it comes to duelling for potential new signings in the summer, perception and expectation will be key.

Any footballer worth his salt will be reluctant to walk headfirst into a relegation battle. Remove that prospect from Vitality Stadium and suddenly Cherries are competing in a superior market.

The club already has one precious, unique selling point: Howe.

Jack Wilshere, one suspects, signed for the manager as much as he did for Cherries.

Howe stimulates his players. He is renowned for his innovative training ground work, his meticulous attention to detail.

Steve Fletcher’s deployment as a training ground battering ram to prepare Cherries’ defenders for their sequence of clashes this month with heavyweight trio Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andy Carroll and Fernando Llorente was a case in point.

But the manager’s acumen is only one of a number of factors an in-demand footballer will consider when he is selecting his next destination.

Howe reportedly held an interest in buying Robbie Brady in January. Cherries were in the midst of a poor run, though, and the winger joined Burnley – a team only slightly better off in the table but then in a rich vein of form.

We are not privy to the financial details of Brady’s move to Turf Moor but his perception of the teams chasing his signature would likely have influenced his final choice.

Cherries, then, can use this closing leg of the campaign to drive home the message that they are here to stay – and flourish.

Stoke City, Swansea City and West Bromwich, after their most recent promotion, all bettered their first-year Premier League position second time around.

That improvement provided the platform for each of those clubs to start recruiting like they belonged in elite company.

Stoke, preparing for their third top-flight campaign in 2010, spent a then club record £8million on centre-forward Kenwyne Jones.

Swansea also went big on a striker after two seasons spent getting their feet under the top-flight table, Wilfried Bony arriving in South Wales for £12million in 2013.

Romelu Lukaku was West Brom’s marquee recruit in 2012, two years after the Baggies’ promotion from the Championship.

Cherries, of course, have some work to do before they can claim to be totally safe this season.

But a nine-point buffer to the bottom three allows for forthcoming meetings with Southampton, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham to be tackled with a degree of relish.

There is nothing to fear from that quartet, certainly not after Howe’s side delivered arguably their gutsiest performance of the campaign at Manchester United earlier this month.

Furthermore, Cherries are growing into their contests with England’s best teams.

They have secured maiden wins over Everton and Liverpool this season, and fought out a draw with Tottenham that was in stark contrast to their two heavy beatings by Mauricio Pochettino's side last season.

This progress is not passing unnoticed.

A scout for one of this country’s foremost clubs privately disclosed his admiration for the way Cherries took on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium earlier this term.

His analytical view was that he had seen a team comfortable in its Premier League skin, not a plucky underdog punching above its weight.

The manager's next task is the hardest of all: to ensure those performances are consistently reflected in results – Cherries lost 3-1 on that day in north London.

Howe's cause will be aided if his transfer targets like what they see of his team in these next two months.

Time for Cherries to put their foot to the floor and claim pole position in the annual talent arms race.