For the second time in just over a month, The Cherries face Dave Penny’s Doncaster Rovers this Saturday at The Earth Stadium.
Vital Quotes:
With further key players starting to return to fitness, club Captain Steve Fletcher was quoted as saying..
‘I cannot see me being ready for 90 minutes for another two or three weeks so I’ll probably be on the bench again next weekend if things are okay.’ (Refering to Doncaster match)
Doncaster Rovers Team News:
Doncaster, who have spent plenty during the summer (Both Sean Thornton from Sunderland for £175,000 and Brizzle’s Paul Heffernan for £150,000) may not have had the start they where hoping for, but always remain a threat, and with the division so tight at the moment a win would see them join the Cherries on 24 points.
Player to watch: Michael McIndoe
A £50,000 transfer from Yeovil in August 2003, Michael is top goalscorer at the club with 4 goals.
Doncaster will be without Jonathan Forte, who has also scored 4 goals at Rovers this season. Currently on the books with Sheffield United, Forte will rejoin Doncaster on loan from Tuesday 22nd November after an agreement with Sheffield United was reached.
Forte was also a target for Boston ‘and a number of other clubs’ but the striker – who scored four goals in six games for Doncaster earlier in the season, chose to return.
AFCB Team News:
James Keane may be a doubt for the squad as he missed training on Thursday morning suffering from a cold or flu bug. It may be too early to see Eddie Howe return to the side, but with Steve Fletcher making an impact on the game v. Forest last weekend the big man will be looking to get involved again.
Player to watch: James Hayter
A constant threat, James is top scorer at the club with 7 goals, the most recent in the 2-0 victory at Brentford.
Match Facts & Stats
Bournemouth sit 10th in League One, 2 points behind Barnsley in the final playoff place. Doncaster are 16th, 3 points behind The Cherries.
Of the 9 home games Donny have had so far this season 4 have been a victory for the visiting side, with 3 wins and 2 draws.
The Cherries away form at the moment is impressive with wins at Colchester (1-0) and Brentford (2-0), but have not won since their visit to London.
Ref Watch:
The ref for tomorrow’s fixture André Marriner. The West Midlands based official last took charge of us in our 4-0 home win against Port Vale in October 2004.
Chris Latchem described Marriner as a “mild man from the Midlands. Referee André Mariner seemed a bit picky at stages, blowing up for fouls that he could have let go. Billy Paynter was unfortunate to get booked after a foul on Garreth O’Connor. But for the most part he did his job well.”
Before that we met him in August of last season when the Cherries narrowly lost 1-0 to the league leaders Luton Town.
Before then Marriner officiated in the 6-3 win, again against Luton in October 2003. Despite the result, Marriner did receive some criticism throughout the match. He chalked off two strikes and gave a dodgy free kick that saw Luton pull a goal back early on in the first half.
Assistant Referees: David Benton (Yorkshire) and James Tattan (Merseyside)
Fourth Official: Craig Evans (Lincolnshire)
Match Prediction:
I think we may well see a 0-0 here. But as nobody wants to hear 0-0, with a couple of impressive away performances if I had to choose anything else it would be 1-0 to AFCB.
Next Fixtures:
Football League One
AFC Bournemouth Vs. MK Dons
Fitness First Stadium
26-11-2005 (3:00pm)
