Bournemouth defender is ready to step in for Norwich City game

The match against Man City was good for several reasons. Bournemouth might not have won the game but they played with confidence and had to defend well for long periods. It was good to see the team tested and the difficult part was to see Lloyd Kelly going off injured with a tight hamstring. That injury might not recover in time for the game against Norwich City, but Bournemouth has a potential deputy who more than deserves his chance to get a few starts in the first team.

Jack Simpson is ready to play a bigger role for AFCB

Jack Simpson played the 90 minutes against Man City and he stood up well against Riyad Mahrez and passed the test with flying colours for me. Of all Bournemouths defenders, I'd say that Simpson has been the most patient. He has never had a steady run of games for Bournemouth and has always had more experienced defenders ahead of him in the line-ups. He has had to come on in-game like he did against Liverpool last season when he hadn't had time to hardly warm up and yet needed to hit the ground running. Things have been against him in that kind of respect and I hope Jason Tindall tells him well in advance if he is to come in for Lloyd Kelly this weekend.

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Now Simpson has had time to see how the likes of Nathan Aké and Steve Cook have played and he is more than good enough to play in the Championship. If he is selected Bournemouth can retain their three at the back formation which has proved successful under Jason Tndall, and it won't affect the team that greatly with Simpson having played in midweek.

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I'd like to see Jack give Tindall something to think about. We have players like Philip Billing who are tall but don't supply any headed goals and we know that Jack is very good at heading from corners and getting in front of his man. Now is the time for Jack to grab his opportunity and defend well and see if he can be given the chance to go up for a few set-plays. JT has brought a few academy players into the squad, but it is also time for him to let players like Simpson be given the chance to play more than the odd Carabao Cup game. He has served his apprenticeship and could well do as well as some of the more experienced defenders if he could play a few games in a row.

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