(Reuters) – Bournemouth midfielder Dan Gosling is a doubt for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Manchester City after picking up a minor knee injury last weekend, manager Eddie Howe said on Friday.
Gosling, who has made 12 league appearances this season, sustained the injury in last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Arsenal and will be assessed before the game at the Etihad Stadium.
“Dan hasn’t trained this week so we’ll make a late call on him, we’re not sure on his availability yet. He took a bang on his knee against Arsenal, we hope it’s just a bruise so we’ll wait and see,” Howe told reporters.
Bournemouth will be without record signing Jefferson Lerma, who is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
Howe said Bournemouth are eager to improve their record against City, having never beaten the defending champions in six previous Premier League meetings.
Bournemouth have conceded 21 goals in those games, finding the net only twice but Howe said his team were not looking to limit further damage against the league leaders.
“The record against City doesn’t sound great, they’re the team we’ve struggled against the most. Every time we have been though we have grown,” Howe added.
“It’s not damage limitation, we want to create a historic moment for the club.”
Bournemouth are eighth in the league with 20 points after a strong start to the campaign but are looking to end a run of three straight defeats.
“We’re in our best shape in terms of performances against the bigger teams, we have been well in the games. We believe we can win any game and this is a positive challenge,” Howe said.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
