Striker out for six months

The striker’s season was brought to a shuddering halt last week when he sustained a knee injury which may keep him out for the majority of the rest of the campaign.

The skipper’s remarks come in the wake of news Cherries top goal scorer Callum Wilson faces up to six months out after picking up a serious knee injury, joining Elphick himself as well as Harry Archer, Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel on the sidelines. It has been incredible really, the injuries. “I have never seen anything like it, never been at a club where lads suffer similar injuries”, he told Sky Sports.

“Even the game against Leicester, we had three players go off”.

“For “Wils” to go down on Saturday is a huge blow for us”.

“It’s going to take a long time, but it will be encouraging to do rehabilitation with someone else alongside me”.

“We were standing around for almost 10 minutes while he was getting sorted and it had an effect on us – we bounced back in the second half”. We’ve got a great squad and a great bunch of lads ready to step in and do a great job.

Francis has admitted that the Premier League newcomers have been unlucky with the severity of the injuries to key players. “But it is what it is and we’ve got to get on with it”, Elphick, who has missed the last two games with a minor ankle problem, was quoted as saying by the British media.