Ryan Fraser is battle hardened

I am wondering whether Ryan Fraser will be available for selection in the match against Chelsea at the weekend. It's not that his form isn't good enough, but more whether he withstood the battering he got on Tuesday night against Middlesbrough. Every time I looked up it was the Wee-man that was getting taken out or bashed to the floor and yet he never seemed to complain or grumble, but took his punishment and carried on for 77 minutes before Benik Afobe was able to replace him.

Ryan Fraser did well to get through the match against Middlesbrough.

We know Ryan is not the biggest of players, but he holds his own and is stocky enough to put his own weight about, but it seemed that Middlesbrough were on a mission to slow him down and they did a pretty good job on trying to make Ryan have a quiet game. The Scot is brave though and he doesn't get put off lightly. I thought he'd be the first to be substituted when he started getting knock after knock, so I was impressed how he kept going.

Bournemouth need him to be in and around the team though as he is becoming a versatile player that has the good habit of getting in the end of moves. Options are always what Eddie Howe wants on the wings and Ryan is always a good sight to see in full flow, but AFCB need him to be in top form and his recent hamstring injury has not been given much time to ease off.

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I have been wondering whether the poor start to the season's early games was simply down to a bit of burn out or physical energy loss rather than a mental thing. In recent weeks the players have been much more able to take the game to teams and forcing the issue. Ryan is one of that sort of player who raises the tempo when he gets on the ball and the form of Fraser, Stanislas, Smith and Ibe I think is particularly important to Eddie Howe's system as they need that speed to their game and when AFCB play at a more reserved pace the more static nature of their game makes them easy for other teams to pick off.

So, I will be keen to see if the Wee-man is among those in the squad to take on Chelsea.

In other news, it's Chelsea away in the Carabao Cup in the week beginning 18 December but we had to wait almost two hours to find out in the delayed draw! In case you got fed up waiting and really wanted to see the draw - here it is.

The #CarabaoCup Round Five Draw has finally taken place. Take a look at the pre-recorded video and see who your team got. pic.twitter.com/g6Tl9IxseK

— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) October 26, 2017