Speaking ahead of the anticipated game against Southampton, Cherries Chairman, Eddie Mitchell is quoted in the Bournemouth Evening Echo as saying: "Who would have thought at the start of the season that we would be playing Southampton in a promotion six-pointer in mid-March? I spoke to someone quite high up at Southampton who watched us last season and they said we would suffer badly in this division and probably come straight back down. We have already surpassed our expectations for the season and they still have theirs to achieve. I think it shows just how far we have come that we are in this position. We have been above them for most of the season and want to keep it that way. We had an off-night at Exeter on Tuesday and Southampton had a good result against Yeovil. One result doesn’t make a season though and we are second in the table on merit. We deserve to be where we are and our home record is excellent. The pressure is on both teams because there is much at stake in this game. But we would have taken this scenario at the start of the season. The result will go a long way to deciding who gets automatic promotion and the winner will be in prime position to go up. A win would see us open a gap on them so there is all to play for".