Howe left Turf Moor in October 2012 to return to Bournemouth so needless to say he has been asked this week about his former club and our prospects of winning promotion.
"I think they have a good chance," he said. "You only have to have seen them play against QPR recently, an enthralling game where they drew three all. They have been up there all season and I think any team that's had that consistency, and has been pushing the top teams, is going to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.
"It's going to be a real close race, a tight battle between themselves and obviously QPR and Derby. There are some good sides up there so we'll wait and see."
He returned to Turf Moor in November and returned with a point and on that he added: "We played well up there. It was a really competitive game against two good sides and you could see that the reasons they were where they were.
"They are an incredibly hard working team with some quality up front, and we are going to have to be at our very best to get a similar result and hopefully we can go one better."
That quality up front is former Bournemouth players Danny Ings and Sam Vokes. Howe said: "In terms of my thinking it is only Bournemouth and I think Bournemouth can take pride in the fact that they have two ex-players, two youth team products, doing well in the Championship.
"I think it is a terrific achievement for the centre of excellence and the youth team. My own personal involvement doesn't really matter, it is now about making sure that we keep them quiet if we can, try and stop the supply to them and impose ourselves at the other end."
He said they did have plans to keep the pair quiet but said: "That will remain a secret but we've obviously discussed it, but they've had a great season and they've scored a lot of goals together. They are a very good partnership so it will be a good test for our back four."
Howe is aware of the current state of the pitch and ended by saying: "It's not conducive (to the way we want to play), there is no denying that. If you look at the Huddersfield game we were still playing the ball out from the back and played some really good football in that game in what were really tough conditions.
"You don't want to move too far from your principles, that's not what we do. We like to stick to how we play but we'll have a look at the pitch on Saturday morning and see what we do."
Clarets' current boss Sean Dyche, who replaced Howe during last season, was delighted to hear that we'd sold our allocation of tickets and that there would be another big following at Dean Court.
"We take great value in the fans and I think they know that," he said before making the long journey to the Dorset coast. "They were really important away at Bolton and taking that amount away is fantastic.
"The players responded to the fans and the fans in turn responded to the players. That connection in the group between the players, me as manager and the town is back. I think there is a real bond there and they're believing again because they know this group go hard no matter what."
Dyche, like Howe, was asked about our front two, and he said: "We have raised the bar with our performance level and it's not just about their goals. They offer a lot more than that and I'm as proud as anyone of what people don't see; the ugly side of the game that Danny and Sam put in.
"The pressing and the awareness of how to defend from the front has changed massively since I've been at the club."
Looking forward to the game and pitting his wits against Howe again, he said: "Eddie's first marker will be to build on last year and make sure they are still in the division and he'd doing a good job so far.
"They've tried to be tighter defensively by playing one sitting in midfield and brought Yann Kermogant, who's a bit more of a target man, so maybe Eddie's trying to flex his ways a little bit.
"When they came up to Turf Moor there wasn't as much passing football. They played 4-5-1, a lot of longer stuff and maybe he's adapted to the division to find a way of making sure they get results."
He added: "They're all difficult games. It is a very difficult division and you can't take it for granted so we won't step off the gas.
"We get the feeling of what to expect, but it really comes back to us and how we deliver our performances.
"The one thing I can guarantee with my teams is sweat on the shirt and the minimum expectation is maximum effort. The players give that and have also given very good quality.
"You've got to maintain and build on each performance and we look to go again. We want the players to continue and be relentless in their attitude as they have been."