Junior can improve

I was one of those who have not yet been that impressed with Junior Stanislas as I feel he should be pushing for more starts, but I have to acknowledge that Junior came back in the second half at Rotherham to prove me wrong. He may have missed a clear goal scoring chance in this game early on, but his head did not go down and he pulled a goal out of the bag as well when the pressure was on him having missed that earlier chance.

Junior had two chances with his weaker left foot and he
managed to round the keeper for one goal. 

Junior is one of those that I feel needs games to get the best out of him, but he is not going to find it easy to get a run in this side. It is okay to miss some chances as long as your team scores more than the opposition and this squad always seems able to create chances. In a way they play each other into form by passing the ball well and accelerating that pace on the ball as the game develops.

It was pleasing to hear that Junior was fast to acknowledge that he needs to score more goals. If he is now fully fit, he will need to get as good as Matt Ritchie in front of goal if he wants to get more involved. Eddie Howe will not be quick to shift any player out who he thinks can do a job when called upon and Junior is a player that can go up a gear and Eddie Howe will get him performing at that level in time.

It was also good to hear that Elliott Ward was okay during his 60 minutes for the Development Squad yesterday against Luton, even if Luton ran out 1-2 winners.