PROMOTION specialist Dan Seaborne believes Cherries are equipped for the Championship but insists Eddie Howe’s men will not get ahead of themselves.

Seaborne climbed from the Conference to the Premier League after winning no fewer than four promotions in five seasons with Exeter and Southampton.

The 25-year-old defender is on loan to Cherries from Saints for the rest of the season and is hoping to add another memorable chapter to his career memoirs.

Asked for his recipe for success, Seaborne told the Daily Echo: “It takes a good group of lads and a really good leader and we tick both boxes here.

“You need to go on a good run and beat the teams in front of you. But it is a week-by-week process. You need to focus on each game and work on things in training. You need to have a good plan for each game, like we did for MK Dons, and go from there.

“When we won successive promotions at Southampton, we had a fantastic group of lads and were really close knit. It is the same here.

“We also had a change of manager, like there has been here, but the core of the players stayed the same. The manager here has done really well and you can see why. He is a great voice and a great tactician.

“There are similarities but that was Southampton and this is Bournemouth. It is not going to go exactly the same but, hopefully, the end result will be the same.

“Everybody here is trying to push in the same direction and the aim is to reach the Championship for every club in this league. But for Bournemouth, it is a real possibility. Hopefully, we can carry on and catch the top two.”

Seaborne is expected to keep his place when Cherries host Portsmouth tomorrow in the first league meeting between the clubs at Dean Court since 1989.

“It is another big game and is going to be a big test for us,” said Seaborne. “We have prepared really well this week so are looking forward to it.

“The league table goes out of the window. Everybody wants to beat you when you have been doing well, which we have in the past couple of weeks.”

Asked whether he was anticipating a warm reception from the Pompey supporters, Seaborne replied: “I don’t know, to be honest. I am at Bournemouth now so it is all about us trying to get the three points. Everybody gets a bit of stick now and again. It is all good for the game and it will be a good atmosphere.”