With a current injury plague circling around the bournemouth squad, an early AFCON exit may not be ideal for Antoine Semenyo, but it certainly is for the cherries. The injury list is strong. The addition of full back Max Aarons following last Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool had raised questions about the short term solution to the current problem. However an unexpected boost could be coming Bournemouths way. Ghana are on the brink of AFCON elimination.
The black stars were one of the pre-tournament frontrunners. However, a shock opening game defeat to cape verde left work to be done. Draws to Egypt and Mozambique followed leaving Ghana third in the group. While the best 4 out of 6 teams finishing third in their groups go through to the knockout stage, Ghanas record leaves them very vulnerable to an early tournament exit.
Semenyo started all three group games as Ghana’s sole striker but only completed the full 90 minutes once. That could mean he’s fresh to help bulster Bournemouth’s attacking options heading into February. The cherries face Swansea city in the FA cup 4th round on Thursday. Semenyo wont be available until Bournemouth’s next league game, a trip to West ham on the 1st of February.
While the return of Antoine Semenyo may be helpful to their attacking options, there still is a problem defensively. Aarons’ injury made him the 4th full back to join the cherries injury list and having missed Marcos Senesi through suspension against Liverpool, it highlighted just how big the problem currently is.
Manager Andoni Iraola was coy on whether Bournemouth would be able to make any big additions between now and the end of the transfer window though. Following the game with Liverpool he was asked if the injuries may result in some late January transfer activity.
He said. “We’ll have to talk to the medical staff and see what the timings are and what we expect with each position.
“We have the right players but all our injuries seem to be focused at full back so we’ll have to wait and see.”
While its over a week until their next league game, Championship side Swansea might fancy themselves with an outside shot of causing an upset on Thursday.
