AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth under-18 coach Alan Connell has received mixed news regarding the fitness of two of his most influential players.
Skipper Nathan Moriah-Welsh is closing in on a return after spending more than four months on the sidelines due to a serious knee injury.
However, frontman Connor Kurran-Browne (main picture), who made a flying start to the season, is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after a dead leg developed into a calcification.
Connell told afcb.co.uk: “Unfortunately, Connor suffered a calcification, initially from a dead leg, so he’s going to be out for a number of months.
“It is a real blow because he was in really good form. He’s a very good player who I have a lot of belief in so it’s a difficult time for him but we’re supporting him.
“He’s such an intelligent lad and he’s good to have around. He will be helping in other ways while he does his rehab although that’s limited because there isn’t much you can do for the first few weeks. I’m sure he will bounce back better and stronger from the situation.”
And giving an update on Moriah-Welsh (pictured below), Connell said: “Nathan is progressing nicely. He’s back passing the ball and doing unopposed technical drills.
“He’s doing a lot of running and is getting his base fitness in. He’s doing everything we are asking of him and we will ramp things up in the next few weeks.
“Hopefully, by the other side of Christmas, he will be there or thereabouts and we’re hugely excited to have him back training because he’s a key player for us.”
The Cherries, who currently top the South West Division of the EFL Youth Alliance, face two important cup games in the space of five days.
They host Plymouth Argyle in the quarter-final of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup at Canford Arena on Saturday (11am) before entertaining Barnet at Vitality Stadium in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday (7pm).
Connell said: “We’re expecting a tough game against Plymouth and are going to need to be at our best if we want to make the semi-finals.
“Then, we move on to the FA Youth Cup which is the pinnacle of our season. We want to prepare as well as we can because we know it will be a difficult game against Barnet.
“I think the boys will be better for the experiences they’ve had already this season and, hopefully, we will be ready to perform in both games.
“We’ve been fairly consistent in the league performance-wise and results have generally followed. “But knockout games in cup football are high pressure. Hopefully, the experiences we’ve had in league and cup games this season will help the boys in these two games and I’ve got huge belief in them.”
Meanwhile, Connell was delighted to see striker Christian Saydee selected in the first-team squad for last week’s Premier League clash against Tottenham, the 17-year-old named on the bench.
Connell said: “It was great to see. Christian initially came on trial after being released by Reading and a lot of hard work has gone into him by a lot of people.
“Fair play to him because he’s worked ever so hard. He trains with the first team most days and the fact he was on the bench gave everyone in the academy a huge lift.
“It makes it really rewarding and you realise why we do what we do when you see things like Christian being on the bench for the first team. Now he’s had that taste, I’m sure he will want more.”
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