AFC Bournemouth
Defender Steve Cook knows AFC Bournemouth are entering “a huge period” – starting with the visit to his former club Brighton tomorrow.
Cook returned from a four-game injury absence to lead the Cherries during yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Vitality Stadium.
A share of the spoils left the Cherries 16th in the Premier League at the halfway stage of the season, level on points with the Seagulls.
Two of the Cherries’ next six games are against Brighton, while the other four are against the teams below them in the table – West Ham, Watford, Norwich and Aston Villa.
Cook, who was named sponsors’ man of the match for his display against the Gunners, said: “This is a huge period for us now and I’d say Brighton is a must win for us.
“We’re playing the teams around us and it is the time for players to come through, show why they should be in the team and show who can be a Bournemouth hero.
“Brighton have been good and have picked up some good results but we’re on the same number of points as them and we’ve had a disappointing season.
“We will be looking to go there to win. I know it’s a quick turnaround but we’re paid to play football games and we’re looking forward to the game.
“It’ll be a really tough game for us and it’ll be nice to go back there. We had a fantastic result there last season and will be looking to replicate that.
“The fixture list is strange. We’ve played Arsenal twice but haven’t played Brighton once. There are a lot of points to be won and we can really propel ourselves up the table.”
Cook wore a protective cast on his wrist against Arsenal and skippered the Cherries in the absence of Simon Francis who was ruled out due to injury.
Discussing the performance, he said: “We were a little disappointed with the result, especially after going 1-0 up but the game became very end to end.
“We were disappointed with their goal but I thought we defended well. Hopefully, it can be a good point if we can beat Brighton.
“We looked very positive and we wanted to try to entertain the fans. It’s an expensive time of the year so it’s our duty to give them something to cheer.
“We should be in a better position than we are but, individually, we haven’t met the high standards we have set.
“Hopefully, we can get a little bit of luck and get some players back fit early and 2020 can be a good year for us.”
