Adam Smith will want to forget his 200th AFCB appearance

Eddie Howe commented after the match against Newcastle that Adam Smith had hurt his knee in an earlier tackle with Matt Ritchie, before he pulled up half way through trying to take a free kick. It was a strange incident and Kris Temple at BBC Radio Solent was having trouble to work out why the injury had occurred with Adam going down as if hit by a 'sniper'.

Adam Smith is a huge player for AFCB because of his versatility.

Well, the long time it took to get Adam into the stretcher and off the pitch didn't do anything to help the Cherries performance which was already subdued after half an hour. The injury will have been on some of the players' minds, I'm sure, and Bournemouth had already travelled without King and Stanislas.  It did give Charlie Daniels a chance to reclaim his place at left back, but he was soon to find the wing-back position was where he would play as Howe desperately tried to find a way for AFCB to get into the game.

Adam won't have fond memories of the game. He was caught out for the first goal when the cross came from his side for Rondón to score after his second attempt. Still, Bournemouth should have done better in the box to deal with Rondón. The experiment to use Adam Smith at left back has probably seen its time up for now. I would rather see Adam on the right, but it looks like he will be out for months after this incident. He was to have a scan on Monday on his right knee.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

It might not seem such a big loss if Daniels had come on and played well, but Daniels saw many of his passes go rather wayward and with Diego Rico also not forcing his way into the squad, the left back position remains a weakness in my view at the moment.

I can only hope that Adam Smith has a speedy recovery. His versatility is fantastic.