Forest Preview

AFC Bournemouth take on promotion favourites Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the season at the City ground. This fixture is one of the toughest of the season, so it should be good to get it out of the way early, however with a handful of players falling injured the game will now be even tougher.

Vital Quotes:

Nottingham Forest Team News:

Forest have also got a weakened team going into the match with Grant Holt (groin) and Aaron Davies (ankle) both picking up injuries. Junior Agogo and newly signed Chris Cohen have also picked up injuries in recent weeks, however they both came through Forest’s pre-season game on Wednesday, but Calderwood is still waiting to see if they are fit enough to play against the Cherries.

James Perch (ankle), Lewis McGugan (ankle) and Grant Holt (groin) are also doubts for the clash on Saturday.

Forest have brought in a batch of quality players in the Summer transfer period, notably Niel Lennon from Celtic, and they have also brought in Kelvin Wilson from Preston North End, Matt Lockwood, Chris Cohen and Aaron Davies.

Player to watch: Neil Lennon

Ex-Celtic Midfielder Neil Lennon will be the Forest player to watch. He has been capped 40 times for Northern Ireland and scored two goals for them in his time.

He has just spent seven years at SPL winners Celtic, making 212 appearances and scoring three times.

AFC Bournemouth Team News:

Bournemouth have picked up a few knocks during pre-season. Paul Telfer and Marvin Bartley are both doubtful to feature in the game, and Josh Gowling and Russel Perret are both in a race to be fit. Neil Moss also looks likely to be out, which will mean Asmir Begovic will take his place.

However, yesterday Bond bolstered the defence by signing Jason Pearce on a two year deal. The Cherries have also got Gareth O’Connor back on loan up until Janurary.

Bournemouth also hope to sign Asmir Begovic, Max Gradel and Jean Cristophe Francois on loan before the opening game of the season.

Player to watch: Jo Kuffour

Jo Kuffour will be set to make his official League debut for the Cherries after spending a successful year at Griffin Park even though the West London side were relegated. He scored 12 times in the league which is a decent number for a striker playing for a relegation bound team.

Hopefully he will better that total this season.