Cardiff City vs AFC Bournemouth Preview: Howe preparing “for a very tough game”

By Carlo Simone (@CSimonejourno)

AFC Bournemouth boss Edie Howe said his players are preparing for “a very tough game” when they face 18^th placed Cardiff City away tomorrow.

The Cherries manager believes the encounter will be a “huge challenge” despite Cardiff’s league position.

After two home victories over West Ham and a 4-0 thumping of Chelsea on Wednesday evening, Bournemouth will be looking to make it three wins in a row in the Premier League for the first time this season.

But Howe made note of Bournemouth’s difficulty away from the Vitality Stadium as a key factor in tomorrow’s match.

“Our away form hasn’t been good [and] that’s something we want to address and change,” Howe said.

“We respect Cardiff a lot and their journey to the Premier League has been based on ability, hard work [and] togetherness. All the things we had here.

“Watching them play this year they’ve done very well, got some great results so we know how tough it’s going to be.

“Their home record is very strong as well [so] we need to be prepared for a very tough game.”

Howe also spoke of Callum Wilson being ruled out of the fixture and said they will make a late call on midfielder Jefferson Lerma but aside from that there were no new injury concerns.

January recruit Dominic Solanke was also “not 100% fit at this moment in time” but was working towards that, whilst defender Chris Mepham was “settling in very well”, following his move from Brentford.

Finally, Howe sent out his best wishes to Emiliano Sala’s family and everyone associated with Cardiff City ahead of their first home match since his disappearance on a plane journey travelling from France.

“It’s when the football clubs unite together [with] supporters, players, everyone connected to the club to share in that moment, and it’s one of the beauties of football,” Howe added.

“It’s been great to see the whole football family get behind Cardiff and Emiliano’s family and I think it’s a very important part of what we do.”

Cardiff City vs AFC Bournemouth takes place at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday 2^nd February at 5.30 pm.