CHERRIES boss Scott Parker insisted he had “been booed enough” to deal with any stick he could encounter on his return to Fulham.

The former England midfielder is set to return to his previous stomping ground when the Dorset club visit Craven Cottage in a crunch top-of-the-table Championship showdown tomorrow (7.45pm).

As well as making 128 appearances for the club as a player, Parker managed Fulham for 105 matches.

He initially took over from Claudio Ranieri on a caretaker basis in February 2019, before eventually being awarded the role full-time.

Parker took the west London side back to the top flight via the play-offs during the 2019-20 campaign – before suffering relegation with them last season.

He joined Cherries in June of this year, after leaving Fulham by mutual consent.

Asked what reception he was expecting to receive on his return to Craven Cottage, the former England international replied: “I’m not sure. I don’t know.

“We all understand what football is like. Sometimes it’s very indifferent, so I don’t know what sort of reaction I will get.

“I’d like to think that whether the reaction is not there, deep down the Fulham fans knew or understood the work we did.

“We took over that football club when it was fractured really. They had been relegated but there was deeper wounds in that place which needed sorting out.

“We managed to do that, we managed to get promoted and while last year didn’t go the way we would have liked, I would like to think that every Fulham fan would understand we left that football club in a good place.

“I’d like to think they appreciate that but if not, it’s not a big deal. It is what it is.

“The most important thing is I am now here (at Cherries) and we go there and put a performance in.”

Asked whether he would be able to deal with any flak which came his way from the home fans, the 41-year-old said: “I’ve played enough, been booed enough.

“I live in this current world we live in where it’s sometimes very fickle.

“That’s the world we live in when it comes to football, I understand that. I’m not bothered one bit really.”

Joined in Dorset by assistant Matt Wells and the rest of his backroom staff, the management’s main aim this season is to pilot Cherries back to the Premier League.

The Dorset club are currently one point behind Fulham at the top of the standings – seven ahead of third-placed Queen’s Park Rangers after 20 games.

“I think we are going in the right direction,” said Parker.

“We’ve had an incredible start to the season, lost only two games, which is a fantastic start.

“Have we had a little bit of a blip the past three or four games? Yes. That’s there to see.

“But I think at that present moment in time we are right on track to have a very strong season.

“A season where we can all see that there is an opportunity for us, if we can maintain and keep performances where they are, we have a good opportunity of trying to get promoted.

“I see Fulham, very, very similar. They are a good side, a top side.

“They are a year ahead in the sense of finances, kept their team from last year and in fact signed new contracts – and have used that, which they deserve to because they have only just come out of the Premier League.

“That’s exactly what it is, two very good sides along with the others. West Brom, QPR, there’s some very strong sides in this division.”

Asked simply whether Cherries could beat Fulham, Parker said: “Yeah, definitely. We can beat them, they can beat us.

“They have the quality to hurt us if we’re not at our finest or we are not at our best and vice-versa, they will be thinking exactly the same.

“We have the qualities in our team to hurt them.

“If both teams are at it and both teams are at their best it’s going to be a great game and a great spectacle which, at any moment, fine margins will probably decide the game.”