Since losing top spot in the Championship last month, AFC Bournemouth came into the game against Blackburn Rovers with just one victory in their last 6. AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker has struggled to turn the sides form back around with the loss of a few key players.
For this game, Lloyd Kelly returned to the bench but wasn’t deemed ready for a return to the starting XI, Jordan Zemura, Adam Smith and Philip Billing were all out through injury whilst Jefferson Lerma was suspended.
This saw Steve Cook continue alongside Gary Cahill at the heart of the defence, with Jack Stacey and Robbie Brady taking the full-back positions.
In midfield, Lewis Cook was in the holding role, with Ryan Christie and Ben Pearson in central positions supporting wide attackers Jaidon Anthony and Jamal Lowe. Up front was Dominic Solanke.
The home side dominated possession, shots and pass successes, but the only stat that mattered was the final score and that was solidly in the visitor’s favour.
Speaking after the game, Parker told Sky Sports…
“We are in a difficult situation at the moment. We are in the eye of a storm with injuries and decisions.
“For the first goal, there were two players who were blatantly offside. I spoke to the official at half-time and he said that if he made a mistake, he was sorry. I could sense in his body language he was not sure.
“It was not even tight. You need to do your job at that moment.”
Man of the match against Blackburn
Christie
Stacey
Travers
Someone else
Scott Parker speaks to afcbTV after today's defeat to Blackburn 🗣
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) December 11, 2021
Written by billythekid
That was disappointing a lot of puff but no punch from our side.
Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray had done his homework on AFC Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke and he hardly got a sniff at goal, very tightly marshalled by their defence.
The first goal came from our side caught napping.
Down to a three-point gap now, Fulham also dropped two points today but West Brom won.
"We've got to come out with our heads held high"
Frustration for #Cherries goalkeeper @marktravers40 who was their shining light for Bournemouth
Listen to his reaction below 🔊👇 pic.twitter.com/2O5tdNPBaQ
— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) December 11, 2021
Your say…
RobWells wrote…
My first game for a while today, missed quite a few through illness so really nice to be back. Thought the first half was a really good game to watch, with a lot of interesting stuff going on. Blackburn really impressed me, very organised & totally throttled our attacking plans. Solanke’s miss just before half-time would have been a game-changer, but was not to be today. their defence was superb, counter attacks dangerous, and height was always likely to be a problem at some stage. But I thought we showed enough, to think we’ll do ok in the coming months. – Join the conversation, click here.
🔢 Here's how the #SkyBetChampionship standings are shaping up. #EFL pic.twitter.com/YLfgbPFmF0
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) December 11, 2021
