Football - Bournemouth v Newcastle preview
Bournemouth v Newcastle preview
Dan Gosling insists he has nothing to prove against his former club Newcastle United when AFC Bournemouth host them in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.
The 25-year-old midfielder spent nearly four years at St James' Park before his switch to AFC Bournemouth in May 2014, which has sparked a change in fortunes. Gosling only made 36 appearances in an injury-disrupted spell at Newcastle, but does not hold a grudge at how things panned out and is instead focussed on helping Eddie Howe's men avoid a fifth defeat in six BPL outings.
Howe's side are fourth bottom after 11 games, one point and one place above Newcastle ahead of this weekend's encounter at the Vitality Stadium. Gosling told the Daily Echo: "I'm not out to show them that I'm a good player, I'm out there to help Bournemouth get three points, whether that's Newcastle or any other team. It's as simple as that.
"It's a massive game. We need to win and they need to win so, if I am selected, it would be a great game to be involved in. If you get back-to-back wins, that's all it takes to climb up the table, and we're very capable of that. "I think you look back at certain games, against Watford we missed a late penalty, against Leicester we conceded a late penalty and against Aston Villa we had three great chances before half-time and lost to a set-piece.
“There is nine points we could have secured but that's in the past now. We need to move on and win games quickly. "We want to give 90 minutes rather than just the second half, as was the case against Southampton [a 2-0 defeat last weekend]. If we do that then we're going to win more games than we lose."
AFC Bournemouth will still have to make do without the services of long-term absentees Christian Atsu (shin), Callum Wilson (knee), Tyrone Mings (knee) and Max Gradel (knee).
Newcastle, meanwhile, are all too aware of the fact they need to find a way to win on their travels if they are to avoid another long battle against relegation.
A 3-0 success at Hull City back in January represents the club's only away league victory in 2015. "If we can keep the level of performance that we've had over the last few weeks, we're confident that the goals will come," assistant manager Paul Simpson told www.nufc.co.uk.
"Bournemouth have a lovely stadium, a really nice, tight, compact ground with a fantastic playing surface and a good atmosphere. It'll be made even better with our fans down there. "We've got to make sure that when we're coming home from Bournemouth, and all of our fans are making that nice, short trip back up north, they've all got something to smile about."
Steve McClaren has his fair share of injury worries, with Tim Krul (knee), Jack Colback (knee), Steven Taylor (hamstring) and Emmanuel Riviere (knee) all unavailable.
AFC Bournemouth (from): Allsop, Boruc, Federici, Bennett, Cargill, Cook, Costa, Daniels, Distin, Francis, Smith, Ward, Arter, Andrade, Gosling, MacDonald, O'Kane, Pugh, Ritchie, Stanislas, Surman, Kermorgant, King, Murray, Rantie, Tomlin.
Newcastle United (from): Elliot, Coloccini, Dummett, Haidara, Janmaat, Lascelles, Mbemba, Williamson, Aarons, Anita, Bigirimana, De Jong, Gouffran, Marveaux, Sissoko, Thauvin, Tiote, Wijnaldum, Cisse, Mitrovic, Perez, Toney.
Match Appointments
Referee: Lee Mason Assistants: E Smart, P Kirkup Fourth Official: A Marriner