MIDFIELDER Danny Hollands believes confidence could be the key to Cherries’ survival bid as the season heads towards a dramatic climax.

Hollands has played a linchpin role in the engine room as Cherries have started to narrow the gap on their League Two relegation rivals.

And the 23-year-old will be hoping to help Eddie Howe’s men take another step towards safety when they host fellow strugglers Accrington Stanley tomorrow (3pm).

Hollands and Cherries endured one of their darkest days of the season when they were thumped 3-0 by the Lancashire outfit in November.

“It was a bad day for everyone,” said Hollands, who was involved in a heated exchange of words with a group of irate Cherries supporters following the final whistle on that fateful day.

“The game was as good as over after 20 minutes when they were 3-0 up. It wasn’t so much three mistakes, it was just three very different goals and that killed it.

“I don’t think it’s a case of us coming a long way since then, it’s more a confidence thing. Starting the season on minus 17 points does affect you, irrespective of what people may think.

“It does pray on your mind and it has been very difficult. It’s been a long, hard season and I think we’re just starting to turn it now.

“The lads are feeling confident, we’re playing better and are more together as a team. If someone makes a mistake, someone else is there to cover. If you look back six or seven weeks, that wasn’t happening. We feel like we can get a positive result in every game now.”

Hollands also feels he has started to rediscover the form that saw him crowned Daily Echo-Micky Cave supporters’ player of the year last season.

“It’s been an awkward season for me,” he added. “It started with a knee operation and through no fault of anybody, I felt I was chucked in a bit too soon, probably because we didn’t have the bodies at the time. I had a couple of training sessions and was put straight back in.

“I also had a spell playing wide on the left, which isn’t my favoured position. I’ve moved back into the centre recently and feel I’m at my best in that position.

“I like getting in people’s faces and trying to win back the ball. I feel I’m playing somewhere near to how I was playing last season.”

Hollands added: “The best thing we can do is not look at the league table. We’ve just got to concentrate on getting three points in every game and hopefully edge a step closer to the teams above us.

“They are all big games now and Accrington Stanley are still fighting for their lives as well. It’s going to be an interesting end to the season.”

Cherries: (from) Jalal, Pearce, Wiggins, Thomson, Bartley, Hollands, Pitman, Fletcher, Igoe, Goulding, Connell, Robinson, Garry, McQuoid, Feeney, Cummings, Molesley, Partington, Button.

Accrington Stanley: (from) Arthur, Cavanagh, Charnock, Edwards, Richardson, Kissock, Ryan, J Mullin, Miles, P Mullin, Lindfield, Murdock, Bell, Turner, McConville, Grant, Procter, King, Dunbavin.

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