AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has revealed that his side are preparing to face Leicester City as if Jamie Vardy is in the side.
The England international is a doubt for the game against the Cherries after missing out on the England squad.
But the boss revealed that despite Vardy's fitness being drawn into question, the Cherries will be making plans as if he were starting.
"It is a huge game for us, every game in the Premier League is," Howe said.
"If we’d have had a couple of draws that we maybe deserved things would look a little different.
"But the games don’t get any easier and Leicester come here eager themselves to win.
"They have a huge counter attacking threat and Jamie Vardy is essential to that. He’s got pace that all good number nines have and he’s a real handful.
"We’ll be preparing as if he’s going to play, he’s done very well against us in previous games but he’s not their only threat for sure."
The Cherries are heading into the game looking for their third home win of the season, and Howe is looking for the squad to keep the momentum that they have begun to build at Vitality Stadium.
"I have no doubt in the ability of the players," he continued.
"We haven’t been far away, we were seconds away from a real big moment against Manchester City, and we felt we should have won against Everton.
"But there are such small margins in the Premier League and we have to make sure they fall on our side this week.
"It’s a home game and we need to look at the momentum we created in the two Brighton games – I felt that we carried that on against Everton but we need to keep building on those two home performances."
