EDDIE Howe insisted he was fully focused on Cherries’ Boxing Day showdown with Arsenal – rather than negotiating his own future at the club.

The Cherries boss confirmed he had 18 months left to run on his current deal at Vitality Stadium.

Howe re-joined the Dorset club from Burnley in October 2012 for his second spell at the helm.

He has guided Cherries from the depths of the Football League to their fifth season in the top flight across two periods in charge and is currently the Premier League’s longest-serving manager.

The 42-year-old said: “My contract doesn’t end at the end of this season. I’ve got 18 months from now.”

Asked whether he was currently negotiating a new deal, Howe replied: “No. At the moment, I am concentrating on the games. They come thick and fast.

“People ask me about January transfers etc. I am focusing on Arsenal and that will go the same for my own future.”

The boss currently has as many as nine first-team players unavailable for selection through injury, ahead of the festive fixture at home against the Gunners (3pm).

Cherries sit 14th in the top flight, four points above the bottom three having lost six of their past seven games.

But Howe insisted bolstering his squad with January signings was not necessarily the answer to escape the threat of the drop.

Quizzed on whether he would be asking for new recruits next month, Howe said: “Survival is hugely important but I think to say that an SOS is being sent out and that money is going to make the difference, I’m not sure.

“In the January window, don’t get me wrong, it has been done but very rarely is that the answer.

“A lot will depend on when we get our players back fit. How long they are going to be out for.

“I am hopeful they are going to be back to make a difference but every situation is different. It’s very difficult to predict and to fully confirm when players are back until the day they are back.

“Players’ (transfer) availability in this window is incredibly difficult. It’s not like the summer window where you have a chance to make a difference. This window is completely different.”

Howe conceded his side were in a “challenging” run of form but vowed to keep cool in a bid to turn around results.

“I think in the difficult moments, if you can keep calm and try to see things for what they are, you’ll benefit so much from it,” he said.

“So this is a challenging period for us. How do you react to that challenging period? Do you pick the bones out of it? Do you analyse it properly with renewed vigour and take the learning experience of all of this? Then you will come out of all of it better.

“If everything goes out the window and you are negative, not in control of your emotions, then I’m not sure you ever recover.

“I think that goes the same in life. In the difficult moments, you’ve just got to keep calm and have a good perspective of life, you’ll be fine.”