Rob Edwards
Posted inDaily News

#PLStories- Rob Edwards happy with pre season but counts the injuries #LUTONTOWNFC

August 7, 2023
Luton boss Rob Edwards is hopeful that the injuries picked up by Jordan Clark and Dan Potts during yesterday’s pre-season double-header out in Germany aren’t too serious ahead of this weekend’s Premier League opener at Brighton & Hove Albion.Midfielder Clark, who scored Town’s goal in their Championship play-off final victory over Coventry City back in May, was stretched off in the Hatters’ first game against their Bundesliga opponents, which saw them beaten 2-1.Meanwhile, Potts then only lasted 26 minutes of the second match, Luton running out 3-1 winners thanks to Luke Berry’s double, as giving an update on the pair after the match, Edwards said: “It was a really good exercise, we've been able to get everyone minutes.Dan Potts picked up an injury against Vfl Bochum on Saturday - pic: David Rogers/Getty Images“Hopefully Pottsy and Clicker are not too bad, initial examinations show hopefully they’ll be okay fairly quickly, but we’ll be able to assess them in more detail when we get back home.“I felt like the first game we probably looked a little bit tired, the majority of those lads played the majority of the minutes against Wolves.“It’s been a quick turnaround from that game and I thought we lacked a little bit of intensity."It was a good moment as we finished the first half well, started the second half well and then looked a little bit more jaded.“We need to push some of them to get through the minutes there, so some positives there."Second game I thought we had a bit more life and I was really pleased with one or two.“I was really pleased with younger players, they’ve come out here and acquitted themselves really well."So overall, a really good worthwhile practice, bits to keep working on as always, but sets us up nicely going into the final week of preparations.”
Tino Livramento
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Tino Livramento wants to repay Southampton supporters and staff after return from injury #SAINTSFC

May 24, 2023
The 20 year old made his long-awaited return from an ACL injury and subsequent setbacks 392 days later during Sunday’s defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Saints were already down 3-1 at the time he replaced James Bree, with the club’s relegation also confirmed the weekend before. Livramento was one of Southampton’s top performers in his debut season at Premier League level last season and could be a star in the Championship. But the focus for the former Chelsea man is to keep fit and try to repay the club’s staff for the effort they have put in to reach this point. “Everyone will look at it from the outside and think returning was another mental block but for me, it’s just about coming back and playing football,” he told club media. “No matter where I’m going to be, if the manager wants me to come in and play then I’m going to come in and play. It just happened to be Brighton, the first game back that I’m available for. I’m happy that I’m back and hopefully, my fitness continues. “It’s been very difficult. I’ve had a few setbacks with the main injury I had. It’s not nice but when you’ve got a strong team and great physios, I can’t speak highly enough of them.” Livramento added: “Without them, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am now. I’m happy that I can now repay them by showing their hard work has paid off. I’m a footballer again! “I’m as confident as I can be. I haven’t played a lot but I think you saw when I came on I had a few actions where I was mostly defending. "It’s always nice to show you can do that stuff first before doing stuff on the ball. Hopefully, I can show the fans what I have been doing before and more. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Nathan Tella
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Nathan Tella ‘looking forward’ to Southampton return amid uncertain future #SAINTSFC

May 13, 2023
The 24 year old scored 17 Championship goals and became a fan favourite in the process as the Clarets secured promotion back to the Premier League as title-winners. Saints academy graduate Tella, who signed from Arsenal as a teenager, now faces the prospect of returning to the second division with the soon-to-be-relegated St Mary’s side. Burnley retain an interest in the forward while he is enjoying his new life, living in the north of England. Any deal struck would, however, require a sizeable fee. He has been asked about his future and could not give a definitive answer, telling BBC Radio Lancashire: “I haven’t really thought about it, I know I’m contracted to Southampton so I’m looking forward to going back there and doing pre-season. “I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends and going on holiday with them, that’s it. It’s a very good question but one I don’t have the answer to right now.” Asked about his time at Burnley, Tella added: “Individually and as a team this season has exceeded everyone’s expectations. “When you get relegated you want to go straight back up into the Premier League. The fact we were able to do that first time and play the way we did has been an amazing feeling. “It’s a bit of a 50/50, I wanted to score goals and I’ve not been prolific growing up. Playing in a team like this they can find me and I can find them so we have scored so many goals this season, I’m happy to score but more importantly, I’ve got the winners medal.”
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Gary O’Neil ‘gutted’ for Marcus Tavernier after latest injury setback #AFCB

May 4, 2023
Cherries look set for a second season in the top flight, moving nine points clear of the bottom three with a 4-1 win over Leeds United on Sunday. That followed a 1-0 triumph at Southampton three days earlier, Tavernier netting the winner. The only negative from that night at St Mary’s was seeing Tavernier forced off injured towards the end of the contest, with another hamstring issue. The 24-year-old has had an impressive first season at this level, since joining Cherries from Championship Middlesbrough for a reported £12million in the summer, contributing five goals and four assists from 23 appearances. However, his campaign has been hampered now by three separate hamstring injuries, which has seen him miss 11 Premier League matches. The severity of his current setback is yet to be confirmed, but head coach O’Neil says Cherries will now take their time to get him fully fit again, with the threat of relegation no longer looming. Discussing Tavernier after Sunday’s win over Leeds, O’Neil told the Daily Echo: “I think it’s important to mention Tavs. “He’s played a big part this season. Even though he’s had a real tough run, I’m gutted for him that he’s hurt his hamstring again. “To bounce back every time and to come straight back in and have the impact that he does. “He’s played a huge part on the points tally that we have, even though he has suffered a frustrating season from his part.” Cherries are awaiting further medical opinions to assess the current damage to Tavernier. Asked if he feels Tavernier’s hamstring issues could be a concern going forwards, O’Neil added: “It will fall on me eventually, but I won’t be the one planning how we make sure that he stays fit. “There will be some work that goes in, definitely. “Obviously in the midst of a relegation battle, which it has been, there’s always a pressure, because you know what he can do, a pressure to get him back and to use him. “So now we’ll see how he is, he might not even be that serious yet. “But if it is similar to the others, we have a nice, good block now where we can try and help him get in some real good shape and see if we can get him back stronger.” Cherries host Chelsea on Saturday (3pm), knowing a win would see them leapfrog Frank Lampard’s Blues in the table.
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Gary O’Neil on Lloyd Kelly after a stop/start season #AFCB

April 21, 2023
Named skipper by previous head coach Scott Parker last term, Bristolian Kelly led Cherries as they secured promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking. However, since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the 25-year-old has been blighted by injury in what O’Neil described as a ‘stop-start season’. With Kelly dipping in and out of the team, O’Neil took the decision to name goalkeeper Neto as club captain, with Adam Smith remaining vice-captain. Kelly has enjoyed his longest spell in the team this campaign in recent weeks, recording six consecutive starts. Asked if Kelly’s improved form was in response to the removal of the captaincy, O’Neil told the Daily Echo: “He's still the same. Still very vocal, still trains really well. His performances have been excellent as well, since his return this time. “So really pleased with where Lloyd is. Nothing to do with the captaincy, really. I think he's just had a stop-start season and he's managed to put some real good work in back-to-back weeks recently, and you can see the benefits of that in his performances. “Lloyd, he's always been really important to us and last few weeks has sort of just been confirmation of that. “He’s an impressive defender. I thought he was very impressive last season in a group that were chasing promotion. “He’s had a tricky season, sort of stop-start a little bit, injury-wise. But whenever he’s injured, you’re keen to get him back very quickly, which shows how important he is to the group and the team.” During Kelly’s time on the south coast, he has been used as both a left-back and centre-half. Primarily trusted as a centre-back under Parker, his recent run in the side has seen him used as a full-back, with O’Neil comfortable with Kelly in either role. “I think he can do both,” he continued. “We use him quite low in it as well. “We generally have one full-back high and one low and the low one has suited Lloyd. “But he can play both. I don’t see any issue with him playing left-side centre-back or left-back. I think he has real good physical attributes that can help him with both. “We’re always working with him on improving the attributes that he needs to play in both positions. It’s a real good quality to have that you can be an expert at both. We try to get him to that level.”
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Gary O’Neil admits Ryan Christie ‘unfortunate’ with injuries #AFCB

March 16, 2023
The Scot came off the bench at the weekend as he helped Cherries over the line against Liverpool, playing the final 20 minutes of the 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium. A regular starter for much of the campaign, the 28-year-old has had his playing time limited since the closure of the January transfer window. The arrivals of Antoine Semenyo, Hamed Traore, and Dango Ouattara, all players who can operate in a similar position to the Scottish international, have seen Christie restricted to the bench in Cherries’ last six games. In that time Christie has made three appearances, playing just under an hour of football (57 minutes). When goalscorer Philip Billing tired at the weekend, Christie was introduced to great effect, the Scot able to calm play down and add much-needed composure to Cherries’ midfield. Speaking about the former Celtic man, O’Neil told the Daily Echo: “Phil was struggling a little bit (on Friday) with something, so Ryan Christie knew the role as well, knew tactically what was going to be expected of him. “Ryan's been unfortunate really in the last few, and he knows this as well, to play as little as he has. “Because his training effort and his performances when he does come on have been of a very good level, the same as (against Liverpool). “So we're getting stronger. There's people coming back. Jeff back today. Lloyd back today. Makes a big difference to us.” With new arrivals in January combining with the return of players from injury, Cherries’ bench looks far stronger than it has in recent months. O’Neil concurred, continuing: “If we'd have been short numbers wise, and Liverpool had made four subs to freshen things up, and we'd have been sat there with three of the young lads on the bench, it makes it very, very difficult. “You're relying on people that look like they're tired. “So Philip Billing, Jefferson, Jaidon Anthony had put a lot in, and the ability to freshen them up without weakening the team is huge. “I felt that really helped us (against Liverpool).”
Lewis Cook AFC Bournemouth
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook on recent spell on sidelines with injury #AFCB

March 16, 2023
One-time England international Cook had missed five games following an ACL sprain suffered away at Brentford in January. The 26-year-old had previously sustained ACL ruptures, most recently missing eight months out between March and October 2021. Those two injuries put in perspective the most recent setback according to the former Leeds United man. Cook told the Daily Echo: “I think when I when I look back on six weeks out, I knew straight away when I did the injury, I don't think there's anything to compare to what I previously had. “Six weeks is nothing, really. “It was just obviously the ligament was, not an awkward one, but I kind of catch it now and again, leading up to coming back to full fitness, so it's a bit of a different rehab. “But they (the physio team) were great. We worked really hard and, yeah, I felt like it might have been a bit longer than it was going to be, but we worked really hard to try and get back as quickly as we can.” There was concern when the Yorkshireman went down clutching the rear of his knee at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Cherries fans unsurprisingly fearing the worst considering Cook’s previous ACL tears. However, the player himself had nothing to fear, calmly explaining: “I knew straight away what I'd done. “And I knew it was nothing to do with a previous injury. “I think that mechanism of how I got injured, is quite common in football and it happens to a lot of players in their career, so I knew what it was and how we were going to deal with it. “And like I said, we worked hard to get back.”Cook made his return to the matchday squad for the trip to the Emirates two weeks ago, coming off the bench to play the final 20 minutes of a heart-breaking defeat to league leaders Arsenal. He then made another cameo appearance against Liverpool, helping see out the final nine minutes of a famous win over the Reds for Cherries. Asked if he had any doubts about being thrown into the deep end after injury, Cook responded: “No apprehension, no. “I feel like you do your rehab, your running, your technical work to build you up to play in these games. “I feel like I was ready. “The lads have been working their socks off to try and get these points on the board, so I just wanted to try and be available to help.” Cook and co. return to action this weekend, when they travel to Aston Villa in the final game prior to the international break.  
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Gary O’Neil issues injury update on playing squad after Wolves win #AFCB

February 19, 2023
Summer signing Tavernier was the match-winner at Molineux, the winger converting from Dominic Solanke’s cross. It was the 23-year-old’s first start since November, with Tavernier missing eight fixtures following a hamstring injury. Lerma came off at the break, with O’Neil revealing that the Colombian had fallen ill prior to the game. Unable to continue for the remaining 45 minutes, Lerma was replaced with Joe Rothwell. O’Neil explained to the Daily Echo: “Jeff was ill very close to kick off, so it was a bit late to change him from the starting XI. “But he wasn't feeling very well so we knew we might have to change him. At half time he was struggling, so we have to change.” There were fears that when Tavernier went down injured that he had suffered a reoccurrence of his aforementioned hamstring injury. However, O’Neil said that the winger’s issue is not with the same hamstring, also sharing his belief that it was not a serious problem. Cherries had been preparing to take Tavernier off before he went down requiring treatment, with Jaidon Anthony brought on in his stead. Asked about Tavernier, O’Neil insisted: “No, it's not a reoccurrence. “We were about to take Tavs (Marcus Tavernier) off anyway. I think we were doing Dango (Ouattara) and Tavs together, I think, for Antoine (Semenyo) and Jaidon (Anthony). Then Tavs went down. We're not sure. “It's the other hamstring, for starters, he thinks there was a contact on it as well from the tackle. So the best news would be that it was just a contact. “And even if it wasn't, he seems to think it just tightened up a little bit. “So we're hopeful that it won't be anything too serious, but there'll obviously be checks that need to go in place.”  
Marcus Tavernier
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Marcus Tavernier on return from injury #AFCB

February 17, 2023
Summer signing Tavernier was one of Cherries’ standout performers before the World Cup break, the former Middlesbrough man coming into his own on the south coast just before the Premier League paused midway through November. When domestic football restarted, Tavernier was absent, with the winger sidelined with a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old made his return to competitive action off the bench during Cherries’ 1-1 draw with Newcastle, having missed eight games. Discussing his rehabilitation, Tavernier told the Daily Echo: “I can't thank the physios enough off for getting me back this quick. “It was going to be a little bit longer, but I'm happy to be back now, playing and doing what I love. “It was a hamstring injury. “ It was one which we didn't expect. We didn't think it was as bad as it seemed, and then the scans and the MRI came back and it was a lot worse than we presumed. “But like I said, the physios have been nothing but great. “They helped me through the process and they've got me got me back for this game (Newcastle). “We pencilled it in as soon as I was injured and we worked towards it. And here I am now.” Cherries have struggled for points in the absence of Tavernier, with their draw with Newcastle producing just their second point since Gary O’Neil was appointed on a permanent basis. “It's been hard to come by at the moment, to get points,” restarted the Leeds-born attacker. “It's been tough, but it's good to get one on the board and with a strong performance as well from the whole team, it's great. “We’ve got a few more lads back now from injury and a few more to come. So it can only get better from here.” Tavernier then went on to detail how he found watching on from the sidelines as his side struggled on the pitch. He explained: “That’s been the toughest part for me. “It's probably been the longest time I've been injured and the worst thing is just watching and not being able to have an impact on the game. “But I feel like I'm back now and I can only have that impact I had beforehand and help the team.” The World Cup break and injury came at the worst time, with Tavernier scoring twice and producing four assists in his last three appearances. “I feel like it's probably the best form I’ve been in my life so far,” he continued. “But I'm happy now just to be back playing again. Hopefully I can get that form again and contribute to the team.”
Dominic Solanke Bournemouth
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke speaks after return from injury #AFCB

February 15, 2023
Cherries’ talismanic striker had missed the previous three Premier League fixtures prior to the 1-1 draw with Newcastle at the weekend after picking up a knee issue in training. Boss Gary O’Neil described the incident, sharing how the striker had jarred his knee with no one around him. Speaking about his return from injury, Solanke told the Daily Echo: “Yeah, it was a bit of a freak accident in training, which was annoying. “Bit of a scare, but luckily didn't end up being too bad. “It was just nice to get back (out there).”It could have been a goalscoring return for the former Liverpool man, with his flicked backheel cleared off the line by Kieran Trippier late on. “Yeah, I've scored a few like that,” began the 25-year-old. “The way it fell to me, in those moments, that's probably the most comfortable way to try and put in the back of the net. But I was unlucky today. “Didn't expect him to be on the line, but it was good defending.” Aside from his attacking threat, Solanke was frequently seen dropping back and helping his side regain possession. He explained: “I think that's just part of the game, really. “Especially in the Premier League. We know that every game is going to be difficult. “We need everybody attacking and defending. So, yeah, I'm happy to play my part. That's it.” Brought to the Vitality Stadium by Eddie Howe in January 2019, Solanke has gone on to establish himself as a key player for Cherries. With his former boss in the opposing dugout managing Newcastle, the ex-Chelsea man was pleased for Howe to receive a ‘deserved’ welcome. He restarted: “I don't really need to say what he done for the club. “He's a hero here, so for him to come back, and get that welcome, it was deserved.”
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Gary O’Neil hoping to welcome back more key players from injury ‘ahead of schedule’ #AFCB

February 13, 2023
Cherries welcomed back both Dominic Solanke and Jack Stephens to the starting XI for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United. Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Fredericks were also introduced from the bench for their first appearances since November. In recent weeks, Cherries’ list of substitutes have included a handful of inexperienced players from the under-18s side. But at the weekend, O’Neil had nine first-team players to choose from, with a number of players still yet to return from injury. “We still have key players to come back, of course,” O’Neil told the Daily Echo. “Still Brooksy (David Brooks), Lew (Cook), Lloyd (Kelly) and Illia (Zabarnyi). “So still four massive players for us that are missing. But the group is in a good place. “And when they start to tire on 78 minutes and you have the full backing of the fans and even from the first minute to be honest, the fans were excellent. “So I’m pleased for the lads because I’ve spoken about it since I took over.” He added: “It’s important for the players. You can see we have a group that are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they’re performing at their maximum. “It’s been tough for them at times, because we’ve been a bit short with injuries, so they’ve had to suffer some tough results. We have a group that is a lot, lot stronger now.” Asked if the four players he mentioned are close to returning, O’Neil added: “They’re slightly different and a couple we’re hoping to get back ahead of schedule. “A couple are doing really well. Obviously I’m hopeful to get them back as soon as possible.” Cherries go to Wolves on Saturday.