GARY O’Neil stressed how important Cherries supporters will be when his side face Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 3pm), sharing: “That connection between fans and team is really important to me as interim manager.”

Cherries are looking to bounce back from two defeats on the bounce, with Cherries losing to Southampton and West Ham in the span of six days.

Those defeats marked O’Neil’s first in his embryonic managerial career, leaving him looking to lift his side back off the canvas as he did when he was installed as caretaker boss after the 9-0 defeat to Liverpool.

Spurs arrive on the south coast in similar form to Cherries, with both sides without a win in their last three games.

Asked how Cherries will deal with the threat of a side currently placed third in the Premier League table, O’Neil responded: “We need to be firing on all cylinders.

“We need to execute a very detailed game plan and make sure the boys are ready and up for it.

“Also, the backing of the fans will be huge for us at home. I spoke about it before. The connection between fans and players and fans and team, as a newly promoted team especially, is huge.

“These home games, you need them with you.

“You need them to help the boys. Obviously, our performance needs to help them feel like they can.

“But Spurs coming here, the advantage of us having our fans and having the backing of the fans should make it easier for us, easier for the boys, and hopefully make it feel like a tough place to come for away teams.”

With Cherries’ search for a new manager still ongoing, O’Neil is approaching his ninth game in charge of the Dorset club.

The former Portsmouth midfielder detailed how the support at the Vitality Stadium was “really important” to his caretaker stint.

“That connection between fans and team is really important to me as interim manager,” restarted O’Neil.

“I think fans, if you can get them to understand that when there are tough moments - Spurs as an example, they've had the ball for a little while and they're causing you problems, and the players can feel it, they know that the players are putting in effort at that point, and we're hanging on, the fans really help you then.

“Then when you have your moments and you find some momentum and you're pushing the noise, and the fact that the away team starts to feel that noise is big for me.

“Really big. I found it as a player, it was a huge help, and I'm sure our players will feel the same.”