CHERRIES old boy Warren Feeney is urging the Dean Court faithful to stay on the boos.

Feeney is anticipating another hot reception when he returns to the Fitness First Stadium with League One high-fliers Swansea City tomorrow (2pm kick-off).

The 26-year-old, who is on loan to the Swans from arch rivals Cardiff, left Cherries in controversial circumstances following an acrimonious contract saga in 2004.

And having come in for some heavy stick from the home fans on his two previous visits - with Stockport and Luton in 2004-05 - the Ulsterman is expecting more of the same tomorrow.

Speaking to the Daily Echo last night, he said: "I don't doubt that they will boo me but it will spur me on even more if they do. And it will be nothing compared with what the Cardiff fans are going to give me when I go back there!

"I got grief when I came back with Stockport and although we lost that night, I had the satisfaction of scoring. Some of them got on my back again when I came back with Luton, but we won that day and clinched promotion.

"Some of the Bournemouth fans turned against me after I had left because of the way things were portrayed with the contract talks while I was there. But I think most people now know what actually happened and it wasn't my fault."

Feeney, who was voted supporters' player of the year by Cherries fans in 2002, says he has kept a close eye on recent developments at Dean Court and thinks he would have enjoyed playing under current boss Kevin Bond.

"I've still got a lot of friends and family in Bournemouth and I speak regularly to Eddie (Howe) and Big Russ (Perrett)," said Feeney, who hit 37 goals in 125 games for Cherries. "The club has seen some big changes since I was there and they certainly had a big clear-out in the summer.

"Sometimes, clubs need a major overhaul to take a step forward and I really hope that happens with Bournemouth because I've got great affinity for them. I would like to have played under Kevin Bond because, by all accounts, he's an old-school manager and he's worked at the top level.

"He seems to have a lot of pressure on him but most of it isn't of his own making. His hands are tied and he is working on very limited resources. People wrote them off last season but he did a great job in keeping them up. I just hope they can kick on this season."

Feeney, who has netted in successive league games to help take Swansea into fourth place in the table, is anticipating an exciting clash between two sides which both registered convincing away victories a week ago.

"We won 5-0 at Orient and Bournemouth had a great 4-1 win at Crewe so it should be a cracker," said the Northern Ireland international. "It should be an open game between two good footballing sides.

"Bournemouth have picked up recently and we've taken seven points from nine to climb the table from 13th to fourth. That just shows how tight the league is and this is an important game for both sides."

Cherries: (from) Moss, Telfer, Cooper, Wilson, Pearce, Kuffour, Lallana, Anderton, Hollands, Bradbury, Vokes, Gowling, Perrett, Newman, McQuoid, Davidson, Stewart.

Swansea City: (from) De Vries, Rangel, Monk, Lawrence, Painter, Anderson, Pratley, Bodde, Butler, Feeney, Scotland, Austin, O'Leary, Bauza, Allen, Robinson, Orlandi, Knight.