Premier League: Bournemouth forward Joshua King ruled out of Tottenham Hotspur clash; Ryan Fraser, Dominic Solanke expected to play

Bournemouth forward Joshua King is out injured for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur but winger Ryan Fraser and striker Dominic Solanke should be fit to play, manager Eddie Howe said on Friday. Norwegian forward King, who has been involved in five league goals this season — the highest alongside Callum Wilson —returned from international duty with a hamstring injury and sat out the home loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend. “Joshua is still out,” Howe told reporters. “We haven’t seen (midfielder) David Brooks on the training ground just yet either and the long-termers are still unavailable.”

INJURY NEWS 👀

🔘 King is still absent for #TOTBOU
🔘 Brooks update
🔘 Boss hopes Fraser and Solanke will returnhttps://t.co/UCzt0HZiVX

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) November 29, 2019

Ryan Fraser, meanwhile, suffered a knock in that defeat and did not train this week while Solanke, who was supposed to come off the bench against Wolves before he pulled his hamstring during the warmup, is also back in contention. “Ryan Fraser got a knock on his leg, a dead leg really. We didn’t see him at training in the early part of this week, but hopefully he’ll be ok,” Howe added. “(Solanke) felt his hamstring in the warmup when he was having a shot on goal. He was then warming up again at halftime and felt that he couldn’t sprint. “He had a scan on Monday and that came back all clear, so he should be ok for the weekend’s game.” However, Simon Francis, who was sent off for two yellow cards against Wolves, is suspended for one game as is Philip Billing who picked up his fifth booking of the season. Bournemouth, a point behind 10th-placed Spurs in the standings, lost 5-0 away in the same fixture last season and Howe said they would have to pull up their socks for what will be Jose Mourinho’s first league home game in charge of the north London side. “The away game at Spurs last year, we started so well and should have scored,” Howe said. “Whereas the home game we found it tough to break them down and the goal came late. “We need to step up to the plate on Saturday and perform. Now, we’re fighting to try and create new memories and that’s the message to my players.”