EDDIE Howe insists he has not been distracted by speculation surrounding his future and believes there is no glass ceiling to what he can achieve with Cherries.

The Cherries boss, who today turned 42, has been linked as a potential candidate for managerial positions at Everton and West Ham this week.

But Howe reiterated his full focus had been on preparing his charges for tomorrow’s away trip to Tottenham (3pm).

Addressing the speculation during this morning’s press conference, Howe said: “I always say it’s definitely not distracting for me.

“I shelter myself away from any kind of news that doesn’t influence the team I’m preparing to play.

“I always say if I’m linked, or my players are linked with other clubs then that has to be flattering, it has to be viewed as a good thing.

“But I spend no time focusing on those things. All week has been preparing for Tottenham.”

Manager Howe has taken Cherries from League Two to the Premier League throughout two separate spells at the club.

He guided Cherries to a club-record top-flight ninth place in the 2016-17 campaign.

Asked whether he felt there was a glass ceiling to what he could achieve at Vitality Stadium, Howe replied: “For me to answer that question and say ‘yeah, there’s a glass ceiling on it’ would be hugely damaging to my players to hear me say that. So, absolutely not.

“I always have the kind of mindset, the approach to my work and life really that you can achieve anything if you work hard enough. If you truly believe you can do it, then you can

“That’s never changed. I always say people put a glass ceiling on us in the Championship – they would have put a glass ceiling on us never being able to get to the Premier League.

“We’ve done all those things and now we are fighting and playing to try to create new memories towards the top of the Premier League. We have to believe we can do it and that’s my message to my players.”

Quizzed whether he envisaged a time where he would want a new challenge, Howe replied: “I think I learned a long time ago in football to never try and predict the future and never try to look to far ahead.

“For me, the next game is always on the horizon. The next game is the utmost priority in my mind. Preparation for that has been very good this week. That can’t change.

“I never try to look too far ahead now because I’ve seen so many managers lose their jobs when they look secure. So many unpredictable things happen in football, why waste the energy looking too far ahead?”