Is Gosling ready for more starts?

Dan Gosling had quite a match against Cardiff City the other night in the Capital One Cup. He kept his record of scoring every round, and even added a second on the night after what was a glorious first goal. Dan showed really tight control and was able to whirl away from his man almost effortlessly, and he brought the crowd to life with that first strike. Now Eddie Howe has to find a way of getting him into the team more regularly.

Dan Gosling is getting up to speed.

I would be surprised if Dan was to start against Wigan though. I suspect that he will be on the bench as Harry Arter has been playing well, and Andrew Surman is available for the weekend's fixture against the Latics. Whether Dan will be a regular starter though in the coming weeks is harder to gauge. The habit he has for popping up in the box and putting away his chances is something that Eddie Howe is going to find hard to ignore. The pressure is really on for the midfield places now and with O'Kane still trying to get on the score sheet and Shaun MacDonald coming back, AFCB look like they have one of the strongest crop of midfield players in the division.

Dan has the quality to excite fans.

It had been Harry Arter who has been the most selected player in midfield and Eddie Howe must feel his industry and hounding qualities put him ahead of a few others. We could see a change though as the games are mounting up now.  I know many fans want a settled side, but at this stage of the season, it is not clear what the best starting 11 is. For example, it might be intriguing to see Dan coming into the team next to Andrew Surman in the coming weeks.

I am pleased that the cup run continues though and fans have a lot to thanks Dan Gosling for that. His opener, against Cardiff, set the game up for a confident performance. A home tie against West Brom is a great reward and will have many fans thinking of the 2011/12 season when we last played the Baggies in the League Cup, let's hope we can do better this time against Alan Irvine's side.