AFC Bournemouth defender Steve Cook will wear a protective mask for the next couple of weeks to protect his broken nose.
The Cherries defender suffered the facial injury against Derby County two weeks ago and was told by medical specialists in Rome that he would need an operation.
However with Cook looking at being sidelined for around four weeks, the centre back has opted against surgery and instead will wear a specially made mask to protect his nose to allow it to heal naturally.
The news that Cook will not miss any game time will be a relief to manager Eddie Howe who already has Elliott Ward sidelined with a knee injury.
Cook told the Daily Echo…
“As I went to head the ball back to Lee Camp, Martin caught me with either his head or his elbow and, as soon as it happened, I knew it was broken. It turned out he had been offside so I hadn`t needed to go up for the header, which was frustrating.
“The doctor put it back in as much as he could after the game before I went to Rome to have it looked at. They said I would have to have an operation and would be out for a month. There was no way I was going to miss a month and it was an easy decision…’
“…The mask is being custom-made in Italy and should be sent over before the game. It will be strange and I am not particularly looking forward to wearing it.
‘I didn`t wear one against Doncaster because I thought I was going to have an operation so it wouldn`t have mattered if I had damaged it any more. Now I am not having surgery, I don`t want to get hit and make it worse so will wear it for a few weeks until it heals.”
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