Tommy Elphick: Bournemouth captain out after ankle surgery

Bournemouth suffered another major injury setback on Wednesday when captain Tommy Elphick was sidelined for a lengthy spell after undergoing ankle surgery.

Elphick, 28, joined Bournemouth from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2012, helping to guide the Cherries from League One to the Championship in his first season.

The defender had seen a specialist after missing two games and could be out for up to 10 weeks although manager Eddie Howe said “it may be shorter”.

“Callum’s had the surgery on his knee”, Howe said.

“To this point, it has been a brilliant journey and I feel there is a lot more to come”, the 37-year-old added.

Leading scorer Callum Wilson will also miss six months after he ruptured his cruciate ligament in the luckless Premier League new boy’s 2-1 loss at Stoke last month.

“When he’s playing, when he’s injured, it doesn’t really change, so he’s now focusing on his rehab and coming back stronger than ever”.

“I’d say that although he faces a long recovery time, he’s in good mental shape”. “While I am enjoying such a good relationship with the owner and the people who run the club, I am very happy here”.

“We will have to be at levels we haven’t been at this season”, he said.

“The players are the most important ones because they have to go out and deliver and they have certainly done that for the last three years”.

As such, Howe is already making plans for the January transfer window.

Howe, however, expects his squad to be strengthened by the imminent return of Harry Arter from a groin problem after the midfielder played for Bournemouth Under-21s against Colchester on Monday.