Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has challenged his depleted squad to use the “bounce” from their win at Chelsea to beat Burnley and continue climbing the Premier League table.
The Cherries ended a run of five straight defeats with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge through Dan Gosling’s late goal, which was awarded following a check by VAR.
Howe, though, knows all of that effort – achieved despite an increasing injury list, with defender Nathan Ake the latest casualty – will count for nothing if not backed by with a result at home against Burnley.
“You could see how much the game meant to us. The players gave everything, we needed a lift and it was a big moment,” the Bournemouth manager said.
“When you win you naturally get a bounce, the players feel better about themselves, and it’s the same for the supporters who will have had a lift.
“It is key now that we push that on and get a good result against Burnley. They are a team that work incredibly hard, are a very effective team and we are going to have to make sure that we are good.
“We will need all the qualities that we showed against Chelsea, to show them again against Burnley.”
“Burnley never give anybody an easy game,” Howe said. “Sean Dyche has done a great job there.”
“We are pretty much as we were. We are stretched at the moment, that has been well documented,” Howe said at a press conference.
“We are still hopeful that a lot of the players with the longer-term injuries are making good progress – but they are not going to be ready short term.”
Howe added: “I have said before going into (transfer) windows we probably wouldn’t be looking to do anything and then in a couple of weeks it can change very quickly.
“A lot will depend on how our injuries go between now and then (January). It is difficult to make a call now.
“There is too much unknown for us, so let’s see what happens.”
