NEW Cherries chairman Jeff Mostyn has saluted manager Kevin Bond for masterminding a dramatic upturn in the club's recent fortunes.

Mostyn and co-owner Steve Sly have seen Cherries win three successive league games - all without conceding a goal - since taking control last month.

And the hat-trick of victories has put Cherries within touching distance of securing their League One safety, with six games remaining this season.

"It's been absolutely unbelievable," said Mostyn. "We could not have wished for a better start and I can't thank Kevin, his coaching staff and all the players enough for the amazing commitment they have given to myself and Steve, in particular, over the past three weeks.

"Under the circumstances, the three wins were an amazing achievement but what has pleased us most is the manner in which they have come. They are playing with style, passion and total commitment and I think that is pleasing to all the supporters.

"The way the supporters have responded to Kevin over the past few weeks shows that after an indifferent start, I think he is winning them over and the displays of the team more than justify that."

Bond's existing contract expires in the summer and discussing the manager's future, Mostyn added: "We've agreed that once we feel the club is safe from relegation, we can sit down to the important task of planning the future of the club and the future of the manager."

Meanwhile, Mostyn is also remaining confident and upbeat about the club's off-field position, despite claiming that some of the financial reports he has received since he took over "could be classified as x-rated".

And Mostyn says the financial expertise of newly-appointed board members David Musker and Ernie Battey has been invaluable to him.

He added: "They have done a fantastic job getting to grips with the finances. Some of the reports I've received could be classified as x-rated, but that is nothing less than I was expecting anyway.

"They are finding out the real facts about the club's finances and that is good news, in a sense that if we know the worst then we can move forward knowing there are no more skeletons in the cupboard.

"I am very confident that with them at the helm, we can stabilise the position of the club going forward but we're still in desperate need of investment.

"We've seen a turnaround in performance on the pitch and believe there is a new atmosphere of optimism around the club. The icing on the cake would be to attract some new investors to join us in our desire to bring complete stability to the club going forward."