NEW skipper Jason Pearce is pinning his hopes on helping Cherries fulfil their promotion dream after being hailed a “born leader” by his predecessor Danny Hollands.

Combative central defender Pearce has admitted boss Eddie Howe’s decision to hand him the team captaincy earlier this week came “out of the blue”.

Hollands, who was only appointed in July, was relieved of the duties by Howe following a mid-season reshuffle which also saw Steve Fletcher return as club captain.

“I know Jason will do a brilliant job,” said Hollands who, by his own admission, is hoping to rediscover his form after suffering a dip in recent weeks.

“He is a very good player and I’m sure it won’t affect his game. He will deal with the pressure. Hopefully, he can take the team on to achieve something, which is what the whole squad wants.”

Pearce, who skippered Cherries in Hollands’s absence at the start of the season, was also handed the armband by Jimmy Quinn during his turbulent reign as manager.

A firm favourite with the Dean Court faithful, Pearce lifted the Daily Echo-Micky Cave supporters’ player of the year award last season and is line to make his 100th league start for Cherries in their next match.

The 22-year-old told the Daily Echo: “It was a great honour to be asked to be team captain. Ever since I’ve been in the team, it was something I had always thought I would like to do.

“Even when I wasn’t captain, I still felt as if I was playing my part and I always like to be vocal on the pitch. With players like Danny and Fletch, we have got great leaders and that is a good thing.”

Asked whether he felt it would be strange to pick up the baton halfway through the season, Pearce replied: “I think it will be.

“I had a taste when Danny was out at the start of the season and it went well. Hopefully, the change will be a positive one and we can get back to winning ways and keep ourselves at the top of the league.

“Losing against Northampton was a setback. We were hoping to get all nine points over the festive period but it didn’t happen. We’ve got to address that and have been working in training on where we went wrong.

“We’ve done brilliantly to be where we are after the first half of the season. We are going to have to set ourselves some targets and try to meet them so we can maintain our push for promotion. We know we’re good enough to do it.”

Asked about his own form, Pearce said: “I didn’t think I played as well as I could have at the start of the season but feel I’m coming back to the form I hit last season. I always strive to keep getting better and work on improving my performances. The main thing is for the team to keep winning.”