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Bournemouth Top Scorer Out For Saints FA Cup Tie
Wednesday, 17th Mar 2021 09:28

Afc Bournemouth boosted their hopes of a play off spot with a win over Swansea City last night, but they did so at a price, as injury woes mount for the Cherries ahead of their FA Cup quarter final against Southampton.

As reported yesterday Bournemouth will be short handed for the game against Saints at the Vitality Stadium, already out before the game against Swansea last night, were Adam Smith, David Brookes and Lewis Cook through injury, all key players for the Cherries this season and Jefferson Lerma (Suspension) & loanee from St Mary's Shane Long (Cup tied) will also be unable to play.

But yesterday brought more problems, firstly it was revealed that Lloyd Kelly would miss the game over Swansea City and then during the game itself leading scorer Junior Stanislav limped off with a hamstring strain.

When asked for an update on the paid by the Bournemouth Echo after the game manager Jonathan Woodgate was quick and straight to the point:

Asked for an update on Stanislas, boss Jonathan Woodgate told the Daily Echo: "Hamstring injury."

Quizzed on if it looked like a serious problem, the head coach added: "No, I don’t think so. He won’t be fit for Saturday."

Discussing Kelly's absence from the squad, Woodgate said: "Adductor strain. He won’t be fit for Saturday."

This is a big blow not just to the Cherries chances in the cup tie against Saints but the season as a whole, Smith, Cook, Kelly & Lerma have all been first choice this season and played over 30 games in the Championship, whilst Brookes is not far behind with 24 although he would be up and around the 30 mark had he not been out for the last month.

Ironically Shane Long will be the least miss for Woodgate, the Saints loan player has fallen down the pecking order over the past few weeks since Woodgate took over.

But the big miss will be Stanislav, he is the joint top scorer with 11 goals this season and the Cherries rely heavily for his pace on the break.

So bad news for the Cherries and good news for Saints, but we should not get too complacent just yet, Bournemouth tend to go on the break quickly and they still have some good players equipped to do that.

The question though will be whether Jonathan Woodgate will prioritise the League over the FA Cup, whilst an FA Cup semi final for the first time in the club's history will be tempting, Woodgate cannot afford anymore injuries and another game in the schedule will only stretch his squad even further as they attempt to play catch up and haul themselves back into the play off spots.

The main priority for the Cherries is promotion, if they fail to achieve that then they will see several players leave the club in the summer, so for Woodgate he has to decide whether to go for glory on Saturday or take a longer term view.

Photo: Action Images



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sandywelsh added 10:17 - Mar 17
Bournemouth didn't have much of a Selection Crisis last night. They beat a good Swansea side 3-0 and Stanislas didn't score. We dont need to worry who Bournemouth dont have fit to play. The biggest worry for us is whether a Saints team turns up to play and try to Win.
6

wibbersda added 11:28 - Mar 17
These stories are getting desperate. Always relying on opposition problems so we may stand a chance of winning..sad.
5

TimSaint added 11:41 - Mar 17
Our top scorer is also out !!
As are Minamino, Walcott, Romeu, Smallbone, Obafemi, McQueen etc.

Both teams have lots of injuries. It makes no difference.

It is a one off cup game and it is how those players perform on the day. Let's hope we have been putting the required work in on the training ground this week !!
4

codge added 12:05 - Mar 17
Hope we can make the effort this week if not there will be no more excuses that can convince a lot of Saints fans anymore.
2

Boris1977 added 12:07 - Mar 17
I'm over the let down on Sunday so in a macabre moment of humour in response to the article above I'd expect us to struggle if we were given a bye into the semi final.

COYRs
0

SaintPaulVW added 12:56 - Mar 17
If we aren't well in front at half time, the game will still be on for AFCB.

One off game and it will come down to who wants it the most.

COYR
1

zonehead added 13:11 - Mar 17
If we were to lose then I think my faith in Ralph would be severely tested and I think his job would too
0

felly1 added 13:35 - Mar 17
Kind of lost interest in this game now.
I want Premier league safety and then we can relax and enjoy cup games.
1

A1079 added 13:57 - Mar 17
It shows how far we have fallen this season that we are concerned who Bournemouth put out at all. It shows the lack of belief that we have as fans that we are not confident that we can beat a Bournemouth side with or without injuries.

As a few have said, it depends who puts the most effort in on the day. Don't be surprised if it goes to penalties and both sides deliberately tries to miss them.

I get the impression that no one really wants this game now and how sad an indictment is that when fans of both these clubs should be hoping their club and team will grasp at an opportunity to get to Wembley but all many of us want to do is get the game out of the way knowing that it is now an intrusion and just delaying a painful semi-final exit.

6

SanMarco added 09:13 - Mar 18
With the mood so low after the Brighton fiasco it is not surprising that we are looking forward to this one with a weary, jaundiced eye. We have reached the stage where the Burnley game is actually more important. Let's use Bournemouth to play ourselves into form. We can't play any worse than in the Brighton second half.....can we???
2


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