Birthday boy Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media this morning, offering an update on the injury front ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Selhurst Park.
The big questions came on Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock’s fitness after both were forced off in Monday’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham, and Howe offered a relatively positive update on both.
Asked if they’ll make the game at Crystal Palace, Howe said: “They have a chance to play, not serious injuries so we’ll make a decision today.”
Bruno has a glute problem and was not pictured in training on Wednesday, while Willock took a whack to his leg in the first half, forcing him to be replaced by Harvey Barnes at the break. It’s reassuring to hear neither is serious, so hopefully both can come through sessions today.
The boss also confirmed that Callum Wilson has come through training this week and not had any bad reaction to his first appearance all season on Monday.
Elsewhere, Dan Burn will return from a one-game ban and almost certainly replace Lloyd Kelly at centre-back, but we’ll be without Emil Krafth, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles once again.
It remains to be seen if Lewis Miley will return to the squad after he missed out on Monday, with Howe revealing this morning that the midfielder is set to start for the U21s tonight. Reading between the lines, the fact Miley looks set to play for our U21s suggests Bruno and Willock should be OK, as I doubt he’d be playing the day before Palace if he was needed in tomorrow’s squad.