A look ahead to Saturday’s season opening match
Eddie Howe could be forced to field his third choice stopper for Saturday’s season opening Sky Bet Championship match against the Terriers.
Both Lee Camp and Darryl Flahavan are nursing injuries with Benji Buchel of Liechtenstein shouldering the majority of the goalkeeping duties during pre-season.
Howe told the Daily Echo: “We are waiting to find out the exact extent of Lee's injury. We don’t believe it to be serious but it has niggled on for a couple of weeks longer than we had hoped.
“I don’t think pre-season is as important for a goalkeeper as it is for outfield players. Lee knows how we play and is a fit lad. He looks after himself and is a very good professional so I would have no problems playing him with no training. From that perspective, it is fine and it is just a case of making sure his thigh is right.”
Apart from injuries in the goalkeeping department, the Cherries have come through pre-season relatively unscathed. Midfielders Shaun MacDonald and Ryan Fraser did pick up knocks, but are both in contention to start at the John Smith’s Stadium.
It is likely that all three of Howe’s summer signings will line-up against Town on Saturday (3pm). Callum Wilson is the stand-out of the three with Bournemouth breaking their Club record transfer fee to bring the striker in from Coventry. He notched 22 goals in League 1 last season and has looked in good touch during pre-season, netting a hat trick in the Cherries’ final pre-season outing against Oxford United.
Fellow signings Junior Stanislas and Dan Gosling are excellent footballers who have experienced both the Championship and Premier League. Stanislas had the opportunity to play in the Premier League this season having being a part of the Burnley team that achieved promotion, but instead chose to continue in the Championship with Bournemouth.
Yann Kermorgant, Marc Pugh and Harry Arter have all enjoyed playing against Town in the past with the latter two scoring in the last two meetings at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Pugh’s effort did come in last year’s 5-1 thumping though, when James Vaughan hit his first Huddersfield Town hat trick. Town is ahead in the ‘Head to Head’ records with 17 wins in total compared to Bournemouth’s 12; however in the recent past the Cherries have won three of the last four clashes.
Tickets for the match are available now via the ticket office, by calling 01484 484 123 or by purchasing online.
Finally, the John Smith’s Stadium is offering 50% off meal deals around the Stadium in public areas.
The meal deals include:
Burger, crisps and soft drink
Pie, crisps and soft drink
Hotdog, crisps and soft drink
All of the above are normally £6, however for Saturday’s game are just £3
The above with a bottle of beer instead of a soft drink is normally £7.00, but just £3.50 on Saturday
Anyone purchasing the meal deals from the public Kiosks is entitled to the discount
