CHERRIES icon Marc Pugh is “really confident” Scott Parker’s men can seal promotion back to the Premier League this season.

The Dorset club headed into this month’s international break second in the Championship table – six points above third-placed Luton Town, with two games in hand on the Hatters.

And Pugh, who helped the club seal their first journey to the top flight in winning the Championship under Eddie Howe in 2015, feels assured Cherries can reunite with England’s elite level.

In an interview with the Mirror, the Bacup-born star said: “They’ve got games in hand, obviously they’ve got to win them.

“Scott’s done a great job. The expectancy levels went through the roof this season, the second season in the Championship, and they’re expected to get promotion.

“I’m feeling really confident, to be honest."

Pugh scored 56 times in 312 appearances since being snapped up in the summer of 2010 - the Dorset club paying a £100,000 transfer tribunal fee to Hereford.

He played a key role in promotion from League One with Cherries in 2012-13 before winning the Championship title.

After leaving Cherries, Pugh had short stints at Queens Park Rangers and Shrewsbury before focusing more on the nutritional side of the game.

Known as ‘The Foodie Footballer’, the 34-year-old is currently helping Cherries’ development side as a nutritional adviser.

Explaining his role, he said: “I'm absolutely loving that (working with Cherries). I go down every two weeks to do practical sessions with the lads in the kitchen and teach them how to cook various things, from healthy snacks to main meals pre-match and post-match.

"They seem to really love it... the reality is you've got to look after what you put in your body. I'm a big believer that, what you put in your body will make you a better athlete."

Pugh’s last senior appearance came for Shrewsbury against former club Hull in December 2020 – a 1-0 victory in which his fellow Cherries teammate Charlie Daniels got the winner.

And despite having options to extend his playing career, the man voted Cherries’ player of the decade by Echo readers was fully focused on working with his clients as an online health coach.

"I came out of football when fans weren’t in the stadiums – Covid was fairly new – and without the fans football just wasn’t the same,” he said.

"It probably made it a little bit easier for me to come out of it having this other passion. I got a couple of offers in the summer, but I wanted to try to pursuit this because I was 34, 35 in April, and I knew football wasn’t going to last forever.

"There comes a point where you’ve got to make that jump and that leap of faith. I did it probably sooner than I thought because physically I feel I can play till I’m 40, but the right opportunity didn’t come round in the summer, and I just wanted to do this and help others.

"I thought I would’ve found it a lot more difficult than I did – and I know a lot of players really struggle because that’s all they’ve known – but I play five-a-side three times a week, so I get my football fix. And I was never one of these people who loved the limelight. I used to go to work, play football, enjoy it, go home and spend time with my family."