AFC Bournemouth
Cherries head coach Andoni Iraola sat down for a press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.
Here are three things we learned…
1. Pleased with Ünal incoming
With the arrival of Turkish striker Enes Ünal announced following full-time last night, the head coach was asked on the Bournemouth signing.
He said: “He’s a player that I’ve known for a lot of time because he’s been in Spain for the past few seasons.
“He’s someone who has already proven that he can score a lot of goals in La Liga, and I think his attributes will adapt well for the Premier League.
“He’s coming back from a long injury, so he’s not 100%, but we will give him his time to become fully fit.
“I’m sure he’ll want to help us from the beginning.”
2. Happy with the squad following window closure
With the window having closed shortly following Ünal’s announcement, questions also came up on how he felt about how the squad is looking.
“I was happy with the squad before the window and I’m happy after the window,” Iraola explained.
“The start of these movements have been more because the players that have left wanted to play more minutes and find another place where they could start more games.
“We’ve tried to replace them in the best way with the recalls of Hilly and Romain, and now with the signing of Enes.”
3. Full focus on Forest with quick turnaround
Last night’s draw to West Ham is quickly followed by Forest’s visit, with just three days between the two top-flight fixtures.
Asked if there was time to review the Hammers draw before Sunday, the head coach shared: “I went straight away with Forest.
“We arrived today at three o’clock in the morning and now we have to present the analysis of Forest to the players already.
“So, you have to go with Forest straight away. Obviously, we will find time to watch the [West Ham] game again, but now we are fully focussed on Forest.
“You don’t have much more time and you have to prioritise and prepare very well for the game because they have a really big advantage playing two days ago at home.
“We played away and arrived back very late, now we are here again and playing Forest in 48 hours, so we have to prepare well because it’s going to be demanding for us.”
