AFC Bournemouth
Joshua King will miss Saturday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers after suffering a minor ham-string injury while away with Norway.
The forward has played in every Premier League game for the Cherries this season, but will miss a fixture he scored in last season, with manager Eddie Howe speaking of his availability in his pre-match press conference.
“Joshua King will miss this game unfortunately,” he said. “He picked up a hamstring strain very late in Norway’s second game.
“It’s a big blow to lose Joshua. It’s a very minor hamstring strain, so it’s difficult to judge how long he’ll be out, but it may keep him out for a couple of weeks.”
Dan Gosling got minutes in Tuesday’s friendly match away at Reading and is closing in on a first-team return following his niggling hip injury, though the weekend comes too soon for David Brooks, whose ankle injury has meant he has yet to appear this term.
“David Brooks still isn’t training with us out on the grass,” said Howe. “Until we see that he won’t be involved with the matchday squad.”
Ryan Fraser missed Scotland’s games due to injury, with the manager saying the winger’s availability will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s match.
He commented: “We’ll make a late call on Ryan Fraser, looking at his injury and see how he is ahead of the game.”
Jefferson Lerma’s time away with the Colombia national team saw him take the field twice in friendlies in the USA, with Howe talking of the midfielder’s return to Dorset and his importance to the squad.
“He’s okay, he’s fine,” said the manager of Lerma’s re-arrival. “It was a long journey back for him but he’s fit and healthy.
“He’s been really important, how you see him play on the pitch is how he is day to day: fully commit-ted, wholehearted and very consistent.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Jefferson and how he is, very low maintenance and not someone I have to pick up and manage too much. When you think that he’s come into a new country and culture I’ve been really happy with him.”
