Bournemouth have suffered yet another injury blow, with the news that their star striker Callum Wilson faces at least six months on the sidelines.
The former Coventry City man had made a fine start to life in the Premier League, scoring five goals in seven matches including a hat-trick in a 4-3 win at West Ham United. This has played a key role in the Cherries promising beginning to their first top-tier campaign, as they currently stand in 16th position with the cushion of three points over the sides in the bottom three.
However, they must now face the bulk of the remainder of the season without their star striker. Wilson was injured after 17 minutes off the 2-1 defeat at Stoke City on Saturday afternoon, and despite returning to the pitch shortly afterwards following treatment, he soon crumpled in a heap and beckoned to the sidelines for further assistance with his right knee.
It has now been confirmed that the 23-year-old, who had been backed to gatecrash England’s Euro 2016 squad by Eddie Howe, has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. He will now undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation, which will force him out of contention until the end of March at the earliest and likely to miss out on any chance of making Roy Hodgson’s plans.
This is the third serious setback Howe has had to contend with since the start of the season after two other players suffered long-term anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the same game against Leicester City earlier this month. Defender and club record signing Tyrone Mings has been ruled out for the entire season, and winger Max Gradel is unlikely to return much before Wilson.
