CAPTAIN Tommy Elphick is trusting his Cherries colleagues to surround themselves with steadying influences while the Premier League hyperbole goes into overdrive.

The club’s Championship title-winning squad regularly featured no fewer than nine of the squad that won promotion from League One in 2013 with most unacquainted with the trappings of top-flight status.

Elphick admitted the unparalleled attention had yet to die down with Cherries still the focus of ongoing interest from national and international media outlets.

But despite the flurry, Elphick insists his team-mates possess the intelligence not to forget from where they have come.

Elphick told the Daily Echo: “It is great. People in Bournemouth still want to stop and congratulate you and I have been lucky enough to spend a week back home with my family where it was the same.

“To see our achievements have such a far-reaching effect and touching people’s lives is an unbelievable feeling. When you grow up, that’s why you want to be a footballer.

“Coming from where we have, it is all good. You never get fed up being recognised and congratulated.

“We’re probably not going to win as many games next season and some of the publicity might turn. We have to accept things may not be as positive but that is part of being an elite athlete with people analysing everything you do. It comes with the territory.

“The minute you change is when the problems can start. You just have to be true to yourself and to the people around you.

“It is very important for individuals to surround themselves with people they can trust and rely on because things will not be as smooth as they have been in the past three years.

“When things get tough and you need that lift, your family and friends will be important to you.”

And Elphick believes staying grounded can also help the squad prepare mentally for the rigours of facing some of the world’s biggest stars.

He continued: “We have had a taste of what is to come and must use that as a learning curve to help make sure we live our lives the right way and, most importantly, go into every game as prepared as we can.

“Personally, I was always brought up to conduct myself well and be a model professional and the manager drills those principles into us as well.

“There is no need for any of us to change what we are doing because it has been successful for us up to now.

“We have a good team ethic and everybody is doing all they need to do to be successful.”