STEVE Fletcher insists Cherries will be "fully focused" on clinching a League One play-off place against his trouble-torn hometown club Hartlepool.

Cherries face Pools in a sell-out 'winner-takes-all' showdown at Dean Court on Saturday - just days after the Teessiders parted company with manager Neale Cooper.

Pools have claimed Cooper left the club by "mutual consent", although unsubstantiated rumours sweeping the North East suggest the popular Scot may have been sacked.

The timing of his departure certainly sent shock waves through Victoria Park and also raised a few eyebrows in the Cherries camp, with news of Cooper's exit the talk of the training ground yesterday.

But despite the controversy surrounding his former club, skipper Fletcher says Cherries will be concentrating "100 per cent" and "pulling out all the stops" in a bid to pip Hartlepool to a place in the top six.

Fletcher, who played 41 games for Pools before joining Cherries in 1992, told the Daily Echo: "It's got nothing to do with us and we can't say it's going to benefit us because it won't.

"It might put a bit of a damper on their situation, but I don't think it will affect the players. Like us, they will be determined to secure a play-off place and will be very fired up for this game.

"The game will take care of itself for both teams. A lot of people have said it's great news for us, but it could work the other way and I know we won't be changing our preparation because of it.

"I don't think it will change anything from their point of view either because their assistant manager Martin Scott, who is in charge for this game, will make sure they are ready for us.

"Sometimes it pulls teams together when they lose a manager so it could have the opposite effect and it's up to us to concentrate on our own game."

Fletcher added: "After being here for so long, games against Hartlepool have become big fixtures for me, but this one tops the lot because of what's at stake.

"It's horrible that it's come down to this but my friends and family in Hartlepool said they thought it would as well. If we beat them, I don't think I'll be rushing back to up there too soon!"

When asked for his thoughts on Cooper's exit, Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll said: "It's no concern of ours and Hartlepool have got to do what they think is best for their football club. We've just got to get on with the job in hand."

Asked if he felt the situation would disrupt Hartlepool's preparation, O'Driscoll replied: "It's no concern of mine so it's not something we will even mention. We will just get on with doing what we've got to do."

Previewing the game, O'Driscoll added: "We have 46 games a season and you prepare to win every game and this is exactly the same.

"The stakes are a bit higher but whatever happens over the 90 minutes, it's going to be the same. People are going to have to make challenges, take chances and play well and hopefully if that happens, you get the result that you want.

"There has been a close connection in some senses because we came up with them and every game we've had against them has been really close and quite exciting so I'm sure this will be no different."

O'Driscoll is hoping James and Garreth O'Connor will both be back in contention, providing they come through training, while Steve Purches is expected to shake off the effects of a virus.

Having already set a new club best for successive away wins this season, O'Driscoll's troops will be looking to avoid an unwanted club record of six consecutive home defeats.