Nigel Pearson has praised the job Eddie Howe has done at Bournemouth as he prepares to take Watford to the south coast this afternoon. 

Despite the Cherries' form slipping of late, Pearson has called for some perspective amid suggestions that Howe's position at the club was under threat and said he believes the manager will have big opportunities if he wants them. 

"All I’d say is he’s done an incredible job there," said Pearson.

"He’s been there over two spells now, he had Burnley in between where it didn’t quite happen for him, but I think he’s done a fantastic job over a period of time and when you consider that, I heard someone talking the other day about his job being threatened now and I was thinking, ‘wow, let’s get some perspective here’. They’ve had a difficult spell this season, but he’s done an incredible job over quite a sustained period of time as a manager there.

"I’m sure his chance will come somewhere else if he fancied it. He might decide to stay there, in the Premier League, they’ve done fantastic to establish themselves." 

Focusing on today's match, Pearson said seizing the initiative will be the key to succeeding. 

"We’re preparing to play a side that we know how they function as a team, that they need a result, that they’re playing at home and they’ll be preparing the same way for us," he said.

"They’ll know that we’ve got players who can cause them problems in the same way that they’ve got players that can cause us problems. It’ll be important who can seize the initiative in a game like this, that’s going to be important for both sides. I never underestimate or overestimate anybody, the focus of what we are about at the moment is making sure that we’re okay first. Many people I’ve spoken to so far about us this season would say that they’re surprised with the players we’ve got, with the situation that we’re in, which would suggest the we’ve not maximised what we’ve got."