AFC Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola sat down for his weekly press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League match against Burnley.
Here are three things we learned…
1. Recovery top of this week’s priority
The trip to Burnley follows big physical tests against Manchester City and the extra-time battle with Leicester City.
Asked on training this week, Iraola said: “It’s a difficult week for us because we come from two very physically demanding games.
“We played against City, huge effort, we played against Leicester, 120 minutes; some of them played every minute.
“It’s a matter of recovering them physically because we will need another good effort on the weekend.”
2. Need to reach “best level” at Burnley
Despite Sunday’s opposition sitting in the top-flight relegation zone, the head coach reiterated the necessity to reach the team’s best level at Turf Moor.
He explained: “They will think also that we haven’t won in some games, so we are not on the best of runs.
“We have the experience against them because we won our first game against them at the very end, it was a hard game for both sides.
“We know it’s not going to be easy and we have to give our best level; they are a team that fights every time.
“They have also added some players in the winter market that are playing well with them and we have to be ready for a challenge because the same as for them, it’s a very important game for us.”
3. Still taking the season game by game
With 13 Premier League fixtures remaining for the Cherries, Iraola explained that he was still viewing the campaign on a game-by-game basis.
“We are going to go game by game and, at the end, the table will put us in our place,” the head coach said.
“Obviously, the first thing we have to do is secure the points to be here in the Premier League next season.
“We still don’t have them and we don’t know how many points will be this but it’s what we have to do; the sooner the better.”
