A Rest From Premier League Football – FA Cup Takes The Stage

After the busy league schedule, which ended with a heavy defeat at the London Stadium against West Ham, the Cherries are involved in the FA Cup for the first time this season. They will be hoping to make better progress than previous 3 seasons where they went out in the 3rd Round. With the news that certain players have been playing not fully fit and others carrying injuries, it will be a chance to rest the players who have been playing regularly. We know Eddie makes changes for cup games, but this is his first chance to give his team a break to recharge their ‘batteries’, because the way they have been playing of late those ‘batteries’ are nearly flat. So expect to see some fresh faces to play another struggling side in Luton Town on Saturday.

Luton Town are the visitors to Dean Court for this 3rd Round FA Cup game. Luton are struggling in the Championship this season and are in bottom position in the table. They have lost their last 9 away games, the latest away to Millwall, their heaviest defeat losing 7-0 at Brentford. They have scored 5 goals and conceded 28 in those 9 games. Graeme Jones is their manager and it’s his first season in a managerial role. Previously he was assistant to Roberto Martinez at various clubs, but as the assistant to Martinez for the Belgium international team, they took them to finish in third place in the 2018 World Cup. His last job was assistant to Darren Moore at West Brom.

AFCB have met Luton Town in the FA Cup once before in 1969 in the first round. The game at Dean Court finished 1-1, Luton Town won the replay 3-1. In all competitions, AFCB have W 23, D 16, L 20.

AFCB Team News
Sam Surridge has been recalled by the club from his loan spell at Swansea. With so many injuries and players not fully fit, Eddie will probably play fringe players and younger players on Saturday.

AFCB Player To Watch
Gavin Kilkenny could get a chance to impress Eddie Howe in midfield. Als,o Sam Surridge now back at our club.

Luton Town Team News
Izzy Brown the youngster on loan from Chelsea will be out for 10 weeks with a hamstring injury picked up in the away game at Brentford on the last day of November.

Luton Town Player To Watch
Be good to see how Harry Cornick has progressed after leaving our club to join Luton Town on a permanent basis. He didn’t really get a chance at Dean Court with the rapid progress our club made rising up through the leagues. Poole born he played for Christchurch in the Wessex league scoring 17 goals in 33 appearances. While at AFCB, he went out on loan to a number of clubs. He can play up front or on the wing, is Luton’s second highest scorer this season with 6 goals and 2 assists. Their leading scorer is James Collins with 8 goals and 2 assists.