Eddie Howe has been speaking to the press about Saturday’s 3-0 win over Fulham, Lewis Miley’s first senior goal, the return of Sven Botman and fresh injury concerns for Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Alexander Iska.
The boss is hopeful that Schar (glute) and Joelinton (hamstring) haven’t suffered anything serious after both limped off with hamstring issues, but he admits that it “doesn’t look good” in the short-term ahead of four games in the next fortnight.
Isak was left out to help him manage an ongoing groin problem and “hasn’t been 100% fit”, although Howe is hoping Botman can “stay back” after returning from a “delicate” knee issue.
Howe then hailed Miley’s character, popularity behind the scenes and composure to score such a big goal in our season, praising Bruno’s ability to “grab the game by the scruff of the neck” in a superb display from the Brazilian and crediting Emil Krafth’s impact from the bench.
You can watch his full post-match press conference below, followed by a few of the best bits:
Howe on Schar and Joelinton:
“Hopefully not serious but, short-term, it doesn’t look good. We thought we were through the worst of it. We’ve just had no time to recover and have had to ask the players to go again and again and we’ve picked up two injuries because of that.”
Howe on Alexander Isak:
“Alex has still been nursing the groin injury and hasn’t been 100% fit… He’s carried on while not being right. We know it’s not a long-term thing but we’ve got to manage him. WHEN he comes back is probably the biggest call.”
Howe on Lewis Miley:
“At 17, and being exposed regularly to 90 minutes, we’ve got to do something to not over-expose him. It didn’t really work! Credit to Lewi for being sharp enough to come on and take his chance. He really deserves that goal.”
Howe on Sven Botman:
“It’s early days for him but he’s such a big player for us. You can see when he came on the impact he had. His injury was a delicate one but we’re delighted he’s back and fingers crossed he can stay back.”
