Afc Bournemouth boosted their hopes of a play off spot with a win over Swansea City last night, but they did so at a price, as injury woes mount for the Cherries ahead of their FA Cup quarter final against Southampton.
As reported yesterday Bournemouth will be short handed for the game against Saints at the Vitality Stadium, already out before the game against Swansea last night, were Adam Smith, David Brookes and Lewis Cook through injury, all key players for the Cherries this season and Jefferson Lerma (Suspension) & loanee from St Mary's Shane Long (Cup tied) will also be unable to play.
But yesterday brought more problems, firstly it was revealed that Lloyd Kelly would miss the game over Swansea City and then during the game itself leading scorer Junior Stanislav limped off with a hamstring strain.
When asked for an update on the paid by the Bournemouth Echo after the game manager Jonathan Woodgate was quick and straight to the point:
Asked for an update on Stanislas, boss Jonathan Woodgate told the Daily Echo: "Hamstring injury."
Quizzed on if it looked like a serious problem, the head coach added: "No, I don’t think so. He won’t be fit for Saturday."
Discussing Kelly's absence from the squad, Woodgate said: "Adductor strain. He won’t be fit for Saturday."
This is a big blow not just to the Cherries chances in the cup tie against Saints but the season as a whole, Smith, Cook, Kelly & Lerma have all been first choice this season and played over 30 games in the Championship, whilst Brookes is not far behind with 24 although he would be up and around the 30 mark had he not been out for the last month.
Ironically Shane Long will be the least miss for Woodgate, the Saints loan player has fallen down the pecking order over the past few weeks since Woodgate took over.
But the big miss will be Stanislav, he is the joint top scorer with 11 goals this season and the Cherries rely heavily for his pace on the break.
So bad news for the Cherries and good news for Saints, but we should not get too complacent just yet, Bournemouth tend to go on the break quickly and they still have some good players equipped to do that.
The question though will be whether Jonathan Woodgate will prioritise the League over the FA Cup, whilst an FA Cup semi final for the first time in the club's history will be tempting, Woodgate cannot afford anymore injuries and another game in the schedule will only stretch his squad even further as they attempt to play catch up and haul themselves back into the play off spots.
The main priority for the Cherries is promotion, if they fail to achieve that then they will see several players leave the club in the summer, so for Woodgate he has to decide whether to go for glory on Saturday or take a longer term view.