Eddie Howe has challenged his Bournemouth players to 'maintain the momentum' they have built up by overcoming league leaders Chelsea this weekend.

The Cherries are unbeaten in five matches since dropping into the relegation mire, culminating in a 2-2 draw with top-four challengers Liverpool at Anfield in midweek.

After picking up a first ever league point against the Reds, Howe is now targeting another major scalp when Chelsea - potentially just four points clear at the top by the time of Saturday's evening kickoff - visit the south coast.

"We are feeling good and confident at the moment," he told reporters. "Our home form has been very good, we have won our last two here and performed well away in the last two as well, against Southampton and Liverpool, which were really big points for us.

"If we can continue that momentum we have a chance. We have to maximise [ourselves] in every game, be difficult to break down, and we have been able to do that recently, so the next two [matches] are going to be similar types.

"It reinforces our belief we can get points against anybody, we have always believed that this season. We do need the team to perform, every unit, at a very high level and we had that against Liverpool.

"We showed the character and belief you need, because even when you are chasing games you have to believe you can score a goal at any time to get something from it, that is a really important quality to have."

Bournemouth have lost six of their eight league and cup meetings against Chelsea, with their only previous home triumph in this fixture coming in Division 3 29 years ago.