As the Festive period gets under way, the Cherries face a tough set of fixtures in the next couple of weeks:
Yeovil Town (h) on Boxing Day Crawley Town (h) on December 29 Brentford (a) on January 1 Wigan Athletic (a) on January 5Manager Eddie Howe is looking at using some of the fringe players, being quoted in the Bournemouth Evening Echo as saying: "I think it is difficult for the players. Just purely from a physical perspective, it is a tough schedule. You get very little rest and recovery in between games. We are certainly going to need the squad in the coming weeks – there is no doubt about that. It will be a good chance for the people who haven’t had a lot of football to come in. It is nice to be at home on the 26th and 29th. I think they are going to be pivotal games for us in this run. If you can get your home form right, it makes the away games slightly easier. You can’t work the players as hard as you would like to between games. At this stage of the year, it is really just a case of rest and recovery. You would like to think that the fitness work you have put in place during pre-season and the early parts of the season would then come to the fore for you. It will be very much a case of having to tailor the training to the games and make sure that the lads are fresh enough to play and perform when needed".
Source: Cherries MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
