Gary O'Neil has kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to Bournemouth injury updates in recent weeks and that hasn't changed ahead of Newcastle United's visit to the south coast. It's perhaps not surprising given how poor the Cherries' form has been since his permanent appointment.
They're yet to win under O'Neil since he was given the job on a permanent basis, with their last outing at Brighton ending in a narrow defeat with key players missing from the starting XI. Speaking prior to their trip to Brighton last weekend O'Neil said: “We've been really unfortunate with injuries. A lot of impact ones or innocuous ones, that have been to real key players as well. So we have suffered a tough spell injury-wise.
“I don't like talking too much about it a day before a game, because you don't want to give too much away. What I can say is David Brooks won't be involved, Junior Stanislas won't be involved, Ryan Fredericks won't be involved this weekend.
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“Dom (Solanke) and Tavs (Marcus Tavernier) have had really good weeks on the grass, and then there's a couple of late calls on others. So I'll make you wait until 2pm tomorrow to find out who's fit and who isn't. But that's as much as I can tell you at the moment.”
David Brooks, Lloyd Kelly and Jack Stephens are expected to miss this weekend's game against the Magpies. Ryan Fredericks and Junior Stanislas are also set to miss the game with long-term injuries.
The Cherries boss didn't welcome Solanke or Tavernier back into the fold, while Lewis Cook was also missing. However, speaking after defeat to Roberto De Zerbi's side, O'Neil said: "Lewis Cook, Philip Billing, Dom Solanke and Marcus Tavernier were all missing from the last game. They're big players, and being able to put them back into a matchday squad will be as big as us putting the new faces back in."
O'Neil is expected to welcome Cook, Billing and Solanke into the fold, while new signings Hamed Traore, Antoine Semenyo and Matias Vina all made their competitive debut for Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium.
Bournemouth predicted starting XI: Neto, Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Zemura, Anthony, Billing, Lerma, Outtara, Traore, Semenyo.
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