Bournemouth V Newcastle at Goldsands Stadium: LIVE

07 November 2015 09:31
Bournemouth V Newcastle - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.

Harry Arter wants that winning feeling to return for Bournemouth

Midfielder Harry Arter believes Bournemouth need to remember what took them up to the Barclays Premier League in the first place as they aim to kick-start their faltering campaign.

The Cherries head into Saturday's televised lunchtime clash against Newcastle having not won in the league since mid-September, thrashed 5-1 by both Manchester City and Tottenham in successive matches before losing 2-0 at south coast rivals Southampton last weekend after going out of the Capital One Cup to Liverpool.

Eddie Howe's squad - depleted by injuries to the likes of captain Tommy Elphick, Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson and Max Gradel - now sit just one point ahead of the 18th-placed Magpies, as the harsh reality of life among the elite clubs of English football starts to hit home.

However, Arter is confident Bournemouth have enough about them to come through the latest test of character.

"As much as it hurts, there is a kind of realisation that we knew we were not going to win as many games this year, so we half expected this feeling," said the Republic of Ireland midfielder, whose dynamic displays were key to the Cherries' Sky Bet Championship winning campaign.

"Now we need to use last season as a motivation, to know how good it feels to win.

"We need to make sure we are all united and not get on anyone's back if it has not been a good week.

"We just have to stick together and to our principles.

"We have to trust each other and ourselves, because it is no good going into games thinking you are not good enough and cannot get a result.

"We need to rebuild that self-belief again, and build it quick."

Arter will be looking for another chance to improve his match fitness having just returned to the side from a hip problem.

Bournemouth will assess the fitness of goalkeeper Artur Boruc (thigh) and defender Steve Cook (ankle/foot) ahead of the Magpies clash.

Rob Elliot has handed Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren a major boost by declaring himself fit for the trip to the south coast.

McClaren was left contemplating an emergency loan deal when the 29-year-old Republic of Ireland international keeper limped away from last Sunday's 0-0 draw with Stoke with a recurrence of a thigh injury.

With Tim Krul and Karl Darlow already in the treatment room, that would have left the Magpies with only 18-year-old Freddie Woodman, who is yet to make a senior appearance for the club, at their disposal at the Vitality Stadium.

However, Elliot's availability has spared McClaren at least one difficult decision as he attempts to secure just a second league win of the season to lift the club out of the bottom three.

The 54-year-old said: "He's fit to play. We gave him enough time and rest and recovery, and he's worked the last two days and trained with the team this morning, so he's fit."

There was equally good news for full-back Daryl Janmaat, who hobbled off last weekend with a knee problem, while fellow defender Kevin Mbabu also returns to contention after a hamstring problem to slightly shorten a lengthy casualty list.

McClaren said: "We have got a few injuries on the periphery, but basically we are trying to get consistency - that's the key word - consistency in team selection, consistency in style of play and consistency in performance.

"As much as possible, we are trying to keep the same team and rotate, really, around that."

Source: PAR