“WHOEVER leads us out of this trouble can be a Bournemouth hero for life.”

That was the rallying call from Steve Cook to the Cherries squad as they gear up for their monumental tussle at Norwich City on Saturday (3pm).

The two clubs sit side-by-side in the bottom two places in the Premier League relegation zone with just one league win between them since the start of December.

For Cherries, Sunday’s miserable 3-0 loss to Watford was a ninth defeat in 11 top-flight matches, which has seen them tumble into the drop-zone.

And Cook is under no illusions how important the trip is to the only side below them in the table.

“It’s an absolute huge game,” said the centre-back.

“Whoever comes out on top, especially if it’s us, gives us a great chance to kick on. Especially with the fixtures. But nothing is a given.

“Going to Carrow Road is an extremely difficult challenge for us, especially the way we’re playing.

“They don’t come bigger in a relegation battle, bottom v second bottom is vital. I’m sure come five o’clock at Carrow Road, we’ll see the players that really want to give it for the club.”

He added: “I don’t think anyone has doubted the ability that we’ve got in the changing room. Now it’s transforming the talk that we will be okay onto the pitch.

“We’ve got good footballers. We don’t become a bad team overnight. It’s obviously a confidence thing right now.

“But you’ve seen Watford come from not winning a game to winning I don’t know how many in the last few now.

“They’ve propelled themselves out when everyone thought they were down.

“We have to take confidence from teams around us that are performing well. One win, one good goal, one scrappy goal can really propel us out of the situation we’re in and I think as players now, whoever leads us out of this trouble can be a Bournemouth hero for life and that’s where it’s at now.

“We’re really low at the moment. Right now it can’t get any worse so it’s a chance for someone to be a hero, someone to really prove something to the town, to the lads around us and I really hope, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 of the players accept that job and go and show something to the outside world.”

Cook is one of a handful of players within the squad who helped Cherries seal promotion to the top flight all the way from League One.

Asked if it is now down to the newer faces to ensure the club don’t head back towards where they came from and haul the side out of the bottom three, Cook said: “We’ve got to make sure we do it as well, we’re the ones playing. We’re not performing.

“Since I’ve come back into the team (in December), apart from maybe the Arsenal game (on Boxing Day), I haven’t been good enough. And I’m one of the senior players here that has been through it all.

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here, I think your duty out on the pitch is to give everything.

“If you give everything, then have a slice of luck or I don’t think we’ve had a bit of excellence for a long time. If that happens, confidence will come, we’ll win the fans back and we can survive.”