It takes more than a nose bash to put Smith off his game

I only caught some of the shock of Adam Smith's facial injury last Saturday on the radio when it was described on TalkSport as claret spilling out everywhere from Adam Smith's face. Indeed the images look fairly alarming even to those who are not usually squeamish, but Adam managed to carry on and play out the game which is typical of AFCB's tough right back.

Adam Smith is hopefully patched up for the trip to Watford.

While many others get the star profile and the headlines, there is a quiet acknowledgement from many AFCB fans that Adam Smith has become a difficult to replace player in Eddie Howe's side. Having struggled to get in regularly the team for more than a year, he broke through last season and has found himself the essential right back of choice. If Smith was unable to start it would probably mean moving Simon Francis to the right back position as the Cherries are well off for centre-halves right now, if we count Mac Wilson and Nathan Aké as candidates.

Adam is not likely to let a crumpled nose from Ashley Williams keep him away from the pitch though. He has had to play better than most to win his way into the side that rarely sees too many changes in personnel and he is not going to give up that place lightly. While he is always bragging about his good looks, he might have taken a bit of banter over his latest facial remodelling from fellow professionals, and he tends to get rather more than his fair share of knocks during games. 

Sometimes we forget that Adam has not had a lot of games in the AFCB side in the one position, and now that he has been given a good run out it is important for the side that he continues to feature as it will only help both hm and Jordan Ibe who plays in front of him.