AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola has revealed that the Cherries are ‘quite thin’ ahead of the Emirates FA Cup fixture with QPR.
The Cherries boss will be missing Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo as the Africa Cup of Nations begins its build-up, with Iraola hopeful that Ouattara can recover from injury to make the squad for Burkina Faso.
The winger, who has been turning out at left-back in recent games, had to be substituted following an ankle injury in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and Iraola admits it is unclear whether he’ll be able to partake in the competition.
He told the media: “We’re quite thin right now because we lose from the other day Dango and Antoine, although Dango is actually injured. I hope he can recover and help his national team but it’s not clear.
“We have a couple of players also who finished with small issues from the other day against Spurs, so we’ll have to see if they can help us tomorrow. I cannot tell you who!
“I don’t think we are recovering anyone else from the other day so we are quite thin but I hope we are enough to go tomorrow and win the game.”
When pressed on the latest on defender Lloyd Kelly, Iraola revealed that the 25-year-old is doing individual work on the grass.
He explained: “For me, he’s been one of our best players, he’s been really good and is a key part of the team.
“It’s unlucky for us that he’s been injured a lot recently. He’s still not with the group, he’s doing well but he’s running on his own and he has things to do before he can join the group.
“I think we will follow more or less what we did in the Carabao Cup. We’ll make some changes but we want to win the game, that’s our number one priority.
“Some players will have more opportunities than in the league games but we still want to go there and win the right to play in the next round.”
