Callum Wilson update and Sandro Tonali call explained by Eddie Howe

Eddie Howe has been unable to confirm whether Callum Wilson will be ready to return for this weekend's trip to Chelsea and explained his decision to take off a "fatigued" Sandro Tonali in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Brighton.

After the game, Howe told the media that Wilson was "close" to making the squad but must not be rushed back. He's "looked really good" in training and has been a "big miss", yet it's still not clear if he'll be back this weekend.

“He’s (Wilson) close," Howe said. "He's trained and looked really good, but collectively we have to make a decision on the long term interests of Callum. What we don't want to do is push him too early, so let's see how he does this week.

“It will be massive (to have him back). You could see (against Brighton), if we had a fit and firing Callum Wilson available, in any sense whether that's starting or coming off the bench, it will have lifted our performance. Not just the player, but the character of the player and the leadership qualities he possesses. He's been a big miss.”

Wilson has been missed - he'd push Alexander Isak, offer something different from the bench and, as Howe says, has the character to lift the group when the chips are down - but his injury issues continue to be a problem and have left many questioning why we didn't sign another proven striker capable of replacing the soon-to-be out of contract 32-year-old.

As for Tonali, there were some boos when Howe opted to take off the Italian on Saturday. It felt like an odd call at the time and the boss has accepted that his changes didn't work, but explained that he was suffering with fatigue after back-to-back 90 minutes for Italy, while Bruno Guimaraes was also struggling with cramp:

“I think he's (Tonali) doing well,” Howe added. "I had no issue with his performance (in the Brighton game). He played very well, he's played his part in a dominant performance in the heart of the midfield.

“I'm aware of the internationals and the load they have. We monitor them closely. Bruno (Guimaraes) was getting cramp at the end, Tonali was a bit fatigued, but the changes didn't help us.”