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Cherries good form recognised in awards

By Jonathan Nagioff

AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been nominated for the Barclays Manager of the Month award for March, while Josh King and Artur Boruc have each been nominated for the EA Sports Player of the Month.

The Cherries have been rewarded by the Premier League after a dramatic upturn in form in March, which has seen them pick up two wins and a draw from their three matches to steer clear of the relegation zone into 11th place.

Bournemouth headed into March with relegation fears having lost all three of their matches in February, including a 6-3 drubbing away at Everton, and had only picked up two points since the end of January.

However, after claiming a shock draw against Manchester United, Eddie Howe’s men have not looked back, with back-to-back wins against West Ham and Swansea last week at the Vitality Stadium easing those relegation fears and placing Bournemouth nine points above the drop zone with nine games remaining.

Cherries duo Josh King and Artur Boruc have both been deservedly nominated for the player of the month award after putting in some vital displays this month.

Forward Josh King has expertly deputised for the injured Callum Wilson this month, holding his nerve to score the crucial penalty at Old Trafford and also netting a hat-trick against West Ham.

Goalkeeper Artur Boruc is also in the hunt for the award after a man of the match display against Jose Mourinho’s side.

The former Polish international produced arguably the defining moment of the game, saving Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty as well as pulling off a string of saves to deny the Red Devils victory.

Boruc, 37, also kept a clean sheet against Swansea last week and has answered staunch criticism of his performances with some brilliant performances between the sticks.

Eddie Howe’s fate together with his fellow player’s will be decided by a panel of experts, with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jamie Carragher involved in the decision-making process.

Howe must fight off competition from five other managers to claim the accolade, with Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare and three-time winner Antonio Conte all amongst the nominations.

Shakespeare has led the Foxes revival after taking over from Claudio Ranieri who was dramatically sacked despite winning the Premier League last season and Chelsea boss, Conte, will be fancying his chances of a fourth award having picked up three successive manager of the month honours in October, November and December as the Blues close in on the league title.

Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp and Sam Allardyce complete the list, with all bosses in the running remaining unbeaten in March.

Victory for Howe would round off an all but perfect month, which has seen his side now looking up the table after securing seven massive points ahead of the South Coast derby against Southampton next week.

Results for both awards will be announced on 31st March at 11am and the public are able to vote by visiting premierleague.com.