AFC Bournemouth
Eddie Howe says his side have no fresh injury worries heading into Saturday’s away match at Watford.
The match comes five days after the 2-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace, and despite the quick turnaround the AFC Bournemouth manager says his side head to Vicarage Road without any new selection concerns.
“We’re okay,” said Howe in his pre-match press conference. “Charlie Daniels is making his way back from his knee problem and we have Junior Stanislas working his way back and getting minutes, but apart from that we’re looking okay.”
Monday night’s win saw captain Simon Francis coming into the side to begin at right-back, Adam Smith switching to the left to good effect, with Howe pleased with the performances from the duo.
“That’s what you want,” he said. “Simon came in and in every game he’s played in this year he’s done well. Against Palace he started the game and was excellent, both in the defensive aspect and pushing forwards.
“At left-back Adam Smith also did well, he’s a versatile player who’s always been able to play there and on both sides. It’s positive to have players who can play in different positions and play well.”
The two teams sit in sixth and seventh in the league table ahead of the fixture, with Howe commenting on the two sides’ positive start to the campaign in a strong competition.
“I’m seeing a very competitive league and that’s no different from previous seasons. There have been tight games, very little between teams and we know that we have to perform well to win, if we can’t do that it’s very difficult to get results.
“We know we’ll have to do that again this weekend to get a result. We’re trying to find that level of performance that we can give every week, we felt we were below that against Burnley and bounced back well against Crystal Palace, now we need to continue.”
