By Mark Briggs (@MarkBriggs29)
AFC Bournemouth travel to Arsenal tomorrow in an attempt to bounce back from last weekends 2-1 defeat at Stoke.
Following on from the match, Eddie Howe said he had received an email from Roger East. The referee apologised for waving away penalty claims. It seems as if the Bournemouth manager was satisfied with the response, despite them going onto lose the match.
Moving onto this weekend’s game away at Arsenal, Artur Boruc and Andrew Surman will have late fitness tests to determine whether they will make the trip. Adam Smith is back in contention for Sunday’s match at the Emirates after a suspension. Jack Wilshere will miss the game though because it’s against his parent club.
Howe said: “Jack will be a big miss for us. When I look back at the last game against Stoke I thought he was excellent.
“He played a number of key passes and he was an important link between midfield and attack. Not only that but his defensive displays have been superb for me, they’ve been underrated and undervalued”.
Jordan Ibe has recovered from an incident in early November. He was forced off the road in his car before being robbed of his £25,000 watch at knifepoint in London. Howe said he is fine now and will be able to play this week.
Arsenal who haven’t won in their last three matches in all competitions have injury concerns of their own. It looks as if the likes of Hector Bellerin and Santi Cazorla will miss out.
Howe said: “If they don’t play they’ll be big misses for them but they have the quality in their squad to bring other players in”.
The sides have only ever met three times. Two of them being last season’s Premier League matches where Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners home and away. The Gunners are 4th in the table and are looking to make up lost ground on the teams above them whereas Bournemouth sit comfortably in 10th.
The match kicks off at 2.15pm on Sunday and is live on Sky Sports.