Parker's passionate press conference preview

The Cherries make the trip to Ewood Park as the automatic promotion race heats up, with the side facing a pivotal final week of the regulation season. 

Here's Parker's impassioned response when asked about the message he's giving to his squad, this weekend's game and dealing with pressure:

On the key message to the players ahead of Blackburn Rovers...

I can't do anything about Nottingham Forest. Are Forest on an unbelievable run? Yes. Have they been incredible? Yes. Have we not got the results in certain moments what 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 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 until that changes, until there's a different scenario where you're asking a different question, that's all I know. So that's my focus. My focus and my team's focus is Ewood Park on Saturday against Blackburn.

Can we win? Yes, we can. All we think is what do we need to do to win, how we're 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.

The xG [expected goals] and 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 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 know is we're going to go into Blackburn, and we're gonna 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're going into Tuesday with exactly the same mindset.

On how to approach this weekend's game...

I think the main focus is what we've done throughout the year and that's my job to work out certain scenarios or make decisions what I think is best for us to try and get a result. But those decisions have always been there, of course they have.

Those decisions ten games into the season are probably not scrutinised as much. But I'm making those decisions constantly and yeah, I'll do the same again for the weekend.

On whether the team will be more pragmatic in the final three matches...

I hope not. I hope my team is free. I hope my team plays with a swagger and plays with confidence.

With everything that is surrounding this team and everything that is building around the climax to this season, I hope that we can park that and play free, and enjoy it and be around it.

I know that's the best way for us in that sense as well. Pressure, the 'what if' moments. The fear of failure can hold people back and you can be a shadow of yourself. There isn't any point. That's my message.

What's the point? We have got to play. You've got to play. This is the situation we're in and trust me, it's an unbelievable one. It is an absolutely unbelievable situation. I wouldn't want it any other way.

You know what, at three o'clock on Saturday, you're going to have to play a football match. So let's just play it and let's try and be the best we can be. Let's try and win the game and try and finish an amazing journey this year, and be successful at the end of it. That is the way we're going to be successful and that's my message constantly to the team.