David Brooks, Enes Unal and Tyler Adams remain the only certain injury absentees for Bournemouth’s Premier League 2023-24 opener at Nottingham Forest, Cherries manager Andoni Iraola has said.
The trio are all recovering from surgery, with forward Unal suffering a foot problem, midfielder Adams having a back operation and winger Brooks requiring treatment on a dislocated shoulder he sustained while playing for Southampton in the Championship play-off final in May,
“They are going to be out,” Iraola said ahead of the start of his second season in charge, which kicks off at the City Ground on Saturday (3pm BST).
“We had one or two players with some illness during the week; I don’t know whether they’re going to [be ready] or not. We don’t have any other injuries.”
Ready for that City Ground noise 😍
Our new safe standing areas have been installed ahead of tomorrow’s season opener. pic.twitter.com/EMWQZAeZJc
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) August 16, 2024
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Bournemouth 2024-25
Iraola made Brazil striker Evanilson his eighth signing of the summer on Friday as he bids to build on a promising campaign which resulted in a 12th-placed finish.
The Spaniard may have been concerned by his side’s defensive record – West Ham were the only team outside of the relegation zone to concede more – but a run of six wins and two draws from 10 games between February and April will have given him hope of finishing higher in 2024-25.
Evanilson has joined from Porto for a club-record initial £40 million, arriving hot on the heels of Bournemouth’s top scorer last season, Dominic Solanke, joining Tottenham for an initial £55m.
Solanke was responsible for 19 of their 54 top-flight goals in 2023-24, with their total fewer than any team above them and two teams lower in the table.
Premier League 24/25: ready 🤍💜 pic.twitter.com/IwFD9GdTLY
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 16, 2024
Forest vs Bournemouth
Bournemouth last lost to Forest in 2015, accumulating five wins and three draws in the meetings between the sides since then.
They have won on their last three occasions as the away team in the fixture, including a 94th-minute winner in a 3-2 victory last season and an 87th-minute settler in their triumph by the same scoreline in 2022.
The absence of Solanke may be a concern given that the England hopeful scored all three of their goals at Forest in 2023-24.
Bournemouth’s second game of the Premier League season is at home to Newcastle on August 25 (2pm), while Forest visit Southampton the previous day (3pm).
