Eddie Howe reverted to a back four in last night’s 4-0 win in Brussels, with Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier occupying the full-back slots.
Lewis Hall looks to still be having his minutes managed early on this season, whilst Tino Livramento was never going to start after he forced off with an injury against Arsenal last Sunday.
And the gaffer confirmed reports that Livramento will be out for the next six to eight weeks, which is a blow in itself but a relief to some degree, with Howe admitting the news is “positive” considering the initial fears as he was stretchered off in tears last weekend.
Howe is hoping Tino could be back after the next international break in November, meaning he could be aiming for our home clash with Man City on Saturday, 22n November:
“From yesterday’s meeting with a specialist, we think Tino will be roughly around six to eight weeks. Which is probably positive from where we were after the [Arsenal]game, thinking he might be months.
“We’re probably looking not at this international break, but maybe the next one, he could be back. It’s slightly more positive than we were initially fearing.”
Thankfully, we may not have to wait as long to see Yoane Wissa finally fulfil his dream of playing Champions League football upon his own return from injury, with Howe commenting that he’s still on track to return in a few weeks time.
“Yeah I think we’re still on track for where we were, which is after this international break.”
“He hasn’t trained on the grass yet, so we haven’t seen him as part of any team training. At the moment that’s the schedule, but we’ll wait and see.”
So, Wissa is “on track” for our trip to Brighton on Saturday 18th October, with Jacob Ramsey also pushing to be back at the AMEX after he returned to the grass recently following an ankle issue picked up during our 0-0 draw at Leeds.
