A VETERAN of the Great Escape, Neil Moss insists that Cherries have no immediate plans for a sequel.

Moss was just 19 when he made eight appearances as Mel Machin masterminded Cherries' Houdini act in 1994-95.

The goalkeeper was in the firing line, conceding 15 goals as Cherries lost their first five league games before his replacement Ian Andrews fared little better during a desperate start.

But despite reaching the halfway stage with just 11 points, a remarkable upturn in fortunes saw Machin's heroes preserve their Division Two status on the final day of a dramatic campaign.

Moss is likely to be required to play a leading role if the cast of 2007-08 is to overcome their dismal start and pull away from the lower reaches of League One.

"Compared with 1994, we're in a much better position now," said Moss, recently restored to the Cherries starting line-up following his surprise early-season omission.

"We were in a terrible state then. We had no manager and were getting thumped every week. There seemed to be absolutely no hope.

"But Mel came in and, slowly and surely, he was allowed to bring in some new players to strengthen the squad and that gave us a chance to go on.

"I remember sitting on the coach on the way back from Plymouth. They were struggling as well but we beat them 1-0. Although it didn't take us out of the bottom five, it was the first time we could see the safety line. I think the lads knew then that we had a real chance of getting out of it."

Machin replaced the likes of Warren Aspinall and Kevin Russell with untried youngsters Neil Young, Steve Robinson and, latterly, Matt Holland, while the arrival of striker Steve Jones was pivotal.

"We went to Brentford for the penultimate game of the season and nobody gave us a cat in hell's chance because they were flying," recalls Moss.

"I remember it quite clearly because I was sitting on the bench next to Mel and he was about to substitute Jonesey because he wasn't having the best of games. As he usually did, the manager was having a right go at him from the sidelines.

"But just as he was about to come off, Jonesey scored. He ran straight over to the bench and started having a few words with Mel. I think they could both see the funny side because we went on to win and it was the first time our destiny was in our own hands."

Although Moss spent much of the season as understudy to Andrews, he was between the sticks when Cherries pulled off a defining 2-1 win over eventual champions Birmingham City in March.

"There is always one team at the bottom which manages to go on a great run and it was us that season," said the 32-year-old.

"We managed to beat a lot of the teams around us and won the big six-pointers."

Moss watched Cherries' opening eight league fixtures from the bench but was recalled earlier this month at the expense of blundering Asmir Begovic.

Asked for his thoughts on the season so far, he said: "It's been very disappointing. The budget was cut quite dramatically and although a lot of people on the outside were saying we were going to struggle, those of us on the inside thought we were in for a good season.

"You only had to look around the dressing room to see the quality of the players. We had some great experience allied with some very good young lads and were expecting to do well.

"But we've only got a small squad and injuries have hit us hard. Hopefully, we will have some players back in the next few weeks and that will give us the strength in depth we've been missing. We were thrashed regularly at the start of the Great Escape season, but that hasn't happened and we've been involved in most games right up until the end, even when we lost 4-1 to Swansea."

Asked whether he had a message for those supporters who are convinced Cherries are already doomed, Moss said: "They've got to stick with us.

"We've got Walsall and Bristol Rovers in our next two games and we've beaten them both already this season. If we could pick up six points, we would find ourselves out of the bottom four and things would look a lot more positive.

"We're looking forward to playing a couple of sides who, like ourselves, have struggled because it gives us a chance to hopefully pick up some points."