Rest can't be under-valued at this part of the season

With no winter break, there is not much time to recuperate between games. Some of AFCB's players have been involved in a good number of the 20 Premier League games and with a squad that has had some long term injuries that is more high-level games than Eddie will have wanted some of them to have played at this stage.

Will Baily get a chance to play on Saturday?

While the numbers game is perhaps easier for the top teams who can draw on experienced internationally capped players from their 25-man squad, for AFCB it has been a management situation in terms of who is available and where they might be able to play to cover the injuries. Eddie has done well to shield Baily Cargill from playing in a Premier League game, but I have no doubt that he would be willing to do it if the need arose. We have already seen Ryan Allsop play against Everton and the more the squad is stretched when playing with some knocks and minor injuries the amount of rest and recovery available is going to be very important.

The FA Cup offers Eddie some chance to tinker and give players a rest and I'm sure he will do that not because he does not want to do well in the cup, but he has to consider his primary objective to keep the club in the Premier League. There are also players that have not had enough game time and who need to play games. Eddie will also be able to see who he wants to keep in the 25-man squad and who can now go out on loan. 

It will also be wise to leave out those players who already have four yellow cards like Gosling, Arter and Ritchie, as although suspension only comes in now on 10 yellow cards, these midfielders are going to be vital to the Cherries fortunes in the latter league games in April when Eddie won't want them having to serve disciplinary bans.