STRIKER Brett Pitman has scoffed at suggestions Cherries are feeling the heat and insists they are thriving on the “nice pressure” of being top of the Championship.

Two league defeats since the turn of the year have allowed the chasing pack to close the gap and left some supporters questioning whether Cherries can stay the course.

Cherries are currently leading the way on goal difference from second-placed Derby – with just four points separating the top six ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Watford (7.45pm).

Pitman, who celebrates his 27th birthday on Saturday, told the Daily Echo: “We are where every team in our league and the two leagues below would want to be. That’s the kind of pressure we would want.

“We would prefer to be top of the table than at the bottom because trying to fight to stay in the league is real pressure. It’s nice pressure if there is such a thing. There are probably teams in mid-table with little or no pressure and we wouldn’t want that either.

“I know what playing under serious pressure is about because it happened here a few years ago. When I look back at the Grimsby game in 2009, if we had lost, we could have gone out of the Football League – that is pressure.”

Pitman, who topped the goal charts during the Great Escape campaign and when Cherries won promotion in 2010 and 2013, has netted seven in 19 games this season.

A product of the Dean Court youth ranks, the Jerseyman has extra motivation to win promotion as it would see him become the first player to represent the club in all four divisions.

He added: “It would be nice because it would mean we would have achieved what we wanted to. I don’t think you will find a more motivated and hard-working group anywhere in the country.

“We work hard every day, the manager demands it. Everybody gives everything on the pitch and nobody leaves anything out there. If we were to come up short, it certainly wouldn’t be due to a lack of effort.

“There is a belief throughout the squad, the management and the staff that we can achieve something. We have played every team and I don’t think there is anybody we should be scared of. There is no team we can’t beat on our day.

“When we won promotion from League One, we lost five on the trot and then won eight in a row. If we lose a game, we just try to start another run. Nobody wants to lose but I’m sure it will happen between now and the end of the season because that’s the nature of the game.”