Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Jalal can't wait for 'humdinger' at St Mary's
CONFIDENT Shwan Jalal is raring to go ahead of tomorrow's derby humdinger and he believes the St Mary's showdown is coming at a good time for Cherries.[LNB] Jalal has kept a hat-trick of clean sheets at Dean Court as his team have prepared perfectly for the south coast face-off with fine home wins over Carlisle and Exeter City.[LNB] The goalkeeper thinks the first league meeting between the sides for 50 years will be a massive occasion and he is bullish about Cherries' form going into the third tier clash.[LNB] He told the Echo: The lads couldn't have prepared any better to play so well at home. We've got to take that form away to Southampton.[LNB] These are the games that you're a footballer for. You want to be walking out at St Mary's and doing your business. I think every one of our lads is looking forward to it.[LNB] I've been involved for Spurs a couple of times where we went to South Africa and there were about 55,000 spectators there. But I don't think it's going to be an atmosphere like that. St Mary's is going to be a great atmosphere and I can't wait.[LNB] Jalal was in Cherries' team when Eddie Howe's men were knocked out of the League Cup by Saints in August.[LNB] But he insisted that result would have no adverse effect on the Dean Court outfit ahead of tomorrow's clash.[LNB] When asked if he felt that previous meeting would have any bearing on tomorrow's match, he said: Not from our team it won't.[LNB] It's a fresh game, it's a league game and I think everybody is eagerly anticipating it and can't wait to play again.[LNB] I think that's the brilliance about this team. We can't wait to go out on the pitch again together and perform. Everybody fights their battles and it's just a pleasure to watch.[LNB] Some of the play up the top has been fantastic and, in the back four, you've got Pearcey and Ryan Garry who would run through brick walls for you and you can't ask for a better defence than that.[LNB] I think we're well equipped to go and give Southampton a real good go.[LNB] Jalal added: You can go through the whole side, and the bench, and we've got quality running through the whole side.[LNB] I think it's a great time to be playing for Bournemouth and a great time to be facing Southampton. We haven't got to worry about what's going on at Southampton, we've just got to worry about ourselves.[LNB] We're Bournemouth and we need to worry about ourselves and how we're going to approach the game. That's all that counts. If we can do our job then we've got nothing else to worry about.[LNB] ¢ See today's Echo for our interviews with former Saints and Cherries stars Dickie Dowsett and Ted MacDougall.[LNB]
