Passionate Parker issues rallying cry to Cherries squad ahead of Blackburn test

Cherries head into their final three matches of the Championship season sitting three points ahead of both Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town, that gap having closed following a run of just one win in six for Parker's men.

While Cherries know seven points from their remaining games would guarantee a return to the Premier League, there is a huge contest on the horizon in the shape of Forest's visit to Vitality Stadium on Tuesday.

Before that, Cherries visit Blackburn Rovers tomorrow (3pm), while Steve Cooper's Tricky Trees host Swansea and Huddersfield go to Coventry.

Asked if he feels nerves have been creeping into his players and affecting recent results, Parker told the Daily Echo: "Maybe. I’m not in all of their heads.

"Of course I’m in their heads where I can try and give over my opinion to where we are and how I see it and hope those words hold.

"Would we have liked more wins in our last games? For sure we would have. One million per cent we would’ve liked to have turned some of those draws, that we’ve had a lot of, into wins. One loss in 11, but we have had a lot of draws.

"But people ask about the pressures of what we’re in. At the start of this season, at the start of any season when I was a player and now as a coach, I want to get to a point where you have a chance of achieving something. Whether that’s a promotion, whether that’s a league, whether that’s a cup, you have a chance. Because I know that there’s another 20-odd teams who don’t get in that position.

"We are in that position at this present moment in time and we need to understand that.

"Of course there’s pressures, I understand there’s pressures, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. The other way is having a dead game at this part of the season. This is what it is.

"We’ve got a massive game now against Blackburn, hopefully then on Tuesday there’s an absolutely ginormous game against Nottingham Forest – brilliant. That’s exactly how it needs to be and I wouldn’t want it any other way really. So I’m looking forward to that and the players will be as well."

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray said of Cherries: "Hopefully Saturday's another tough day for them and we can make them nervous and we can take advantage of that."

Asked how big a part of his job now is keeping heads calm to try and quell any nerves, Parker added: "It’s the biggest part of my job now.

"I’ve probably been saying that to you over the past five or six weeks. At this part of the season, this is what happens and that’s what’s going to be the difference.

"I’d be saying exactly the same if I was Tony. The pressure is not on Blackburn in any way and the pressure is on us.

"It is how we perceive pressure. I don’t see it as pressure. I see pressure the other way. I see pressure of being in eighth and not having the opportunity. This is not pressure for me.

"This is exactly why we started the season. This is exactly why we get up every morning and work as hard as we work, to have an opportunity.

"And that is the biggest thing for me, to get an opportunity. We have an opportunity and we need to embrace that and understand that.

"Of course you can’t eradicate that. I can’t just click my fingers or my words and say ‘oh yeah, don’t worry’. Of course you do, that’s just human nature.

"But there has to be an element where you need to understand we need to embrace that a little bit."

Discussing Forest closing the gap on them to just three points, Parker said: "I can't do anything about Forest. Are Forest on an unbelievable run? Yes.

"Have they been incredible? Yes. Have we not got the results in certain moments we would have liked? Yep, one million per cent.

"We all know what has happened. The ifs and buts along the way. What happened there, they've done this, they've done that. But it's all just not important.

"What I do know, is that one million per cent we can beat Blackburn. What I do know is one million per cent we can beat Nottingham Forest. What I do know is we can beat Millwall, too.

"So that's my focus. My focus is and my team's focus is - Ewood Park, Saturday against Blackburn. Can we win? Yes, we can.

"What do we need to do to win? How are we going to win the game? And then we move on.

"And the same will be against Nottingham Forest.

"I'm not sitting here with a team or a group of players that I can't say that about. So I don't need to kid anyone.

"History, the evidence is there for us throughout the season. I don't need to sit here and go 'I think we can win against Blackburn’. I know we can win.

"Now, it might not happen. We may we may not win, or we may draw or whatever is the case.

"But at this moment, again, that's just ifs and buts. What I do now is we're going to go into Blackburn, and we're going to do everything we can to win the game.

"We're going to show our quality which we have got and try and do that. And then we'll go into Tuesday with the exactly the same mindset."