BRISTOL City boss Nigel Pearson insists his focus this week has been on his own side rather than high-flying Cherries.

Scott Parker takes his unbeaten team to Ashton Gate tomorrow (3pm).

But Pearson, whose Robins sit ninth, says he is not concerned by the early season form of the Dorset club.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, as reported by Bristol Live, Pearson said of Cherries: "I would expect them to be somewhere near there (the top) but I'm not really bothered about them actually.

"I know they've had a good start to the season but the way that we approach this game is the way that we approach every game: we'll try and win the game.

"Expectations of what our opponents' season and aspirations are I'm not really interested in.

"Providing that we continue to concentrate on ourselves we'll continue to move in the right direction.

"What you're alluding to is that it'll be a tough game and I expect that to be the case because they're unbeaten so far.

"But I'm sure they'll have a pretty healthy respect for us too. It'll be a very nice one to win."

There will also be a familiar face in the opposition dugout for Pearson tomorrow.

Parker was a Newcastle United player when Pearson arrived on Tyneside as a coach in 2006.

"I worked with him when I was coaching at Newcastle," Pearson explained.

"He's someone that I know. His managerial career has started very well and he's someone with a burning ambition to be successful.

"He's a decent person as well. He was captain at Newcastle during what was a difficult time up there, and he always carried himself very, very well."