Ahead of the break, which included an international window and an FA Cup gameweek, Iraola said they were looking for a mid-season friendly, but they weren’t able to book one.
Asked how they had spent the three weeks, the boss said: “It has been a strange break.
Read more:
“Normally during the season, I think it's the first time I've had like three weeks without a game. An international break plus the extra week because we were not in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
“It has given us the chance to work with some of the players because half of them were with their national teams, but I think it's been especially, has been good for some players we had injured.
AFC Bournemouth (Image: Richard Crease)
“Julio Soler, Tyler Adams, Ben Doak, players that were in the last part of the rehab process and have finished this period training with the team.
“And I think they’re in a good place to be available again and also I suppose for some of them some days off. But it's always risky, it's always risky.
“We did a friendly in-house, because you don't want a lot of time between games and we try to simulate a little bit a game but we'll see if we are ready.
“We should be fresh, we should be definitely motivated because we are facing Arsenal away in a big game. So I hope we are ready for tomorrow.”