EDDIE Howe insists “fearing the sack is not helpful and productive in any way” as he looks to mastermind Cherries’ great escape out of the Premier League bottom three.

The Cherries boss has seen his troops plummet into relegation trouble with one point from their past seven top-flight fixtures.

With three defeats since the division’s resumption last month, Cherries now face a dauntingly difficult six-game run-in – starting with a trip to Manchester United tomorrow (3pm).

But with his side 19th in the table having collected 27 points from 32 games, Howe remains fully focused on improving performances rather than whether his job is on the line.

Asked if he was fearing the sack at the moment, the Cherries boss said: “Fearing the sack is not helpful and productive in any way.

“What am I going to do? Sit at home and worry about my future? No.

“I am going to try and make the team play better and try to focus all my energies on what we deliver on the training ground, how I speak to my players.

“I am a realist. I know football is about results.

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at a football club, you need to win games, but I can only affect what I am doing right now.”

After their visit to Old Trafford, Howe’s men face tough trips to Manchester City and Everton, as well as home battles with Tottenham, Leicester and Southampton.

The boss added: “A lot of people are certainly welcome to their opinion and a lot of outsiders, probably a huge percentage of people, will say we’re done, we’re finished.

“But historically at this club, that’s always been the way in many different aspects.

“We have been written off and we’ve managed to overcome that mindset and against the odds we’ve come through and achieved great things.

“We’re going to have to call on all of those resources now. One point in seven games is nowhere near what we need.

“But the beautiful thing about that is, that is the past.

“Although the six games we have are very difficult on paper, sometimes that can bring out the best in us.

“I am still very much with the team, I’m still very much in a positive mindset that we can do it – but certainly we are going to have to elevate everything to a new level from what we’ve seen in the past few games.”