Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has admitted Lewis Cook is very unlucky to find himself on the bench.
The midfielder had a pretty productive 2017/18 and his impressive performance for the Cherries landed him on the standby list for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.
The 21 year old was tipped to play a much bigger role this season but has managed to muster a mere 29 minutes of game time. Howe started him in the 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Blackburn Rovers and the 21 year old showed the gaffer what he has been missing so far with a sublime display.
Howe discussed the absence of the player as the gaffer didn’t want to change the team combination following their 5-2 win over Marseille in the preseason. “Naturally, he wants to play, any player would say the same. I think if he turns around and says, ‘I’m happy not to play’, there’s a problem.
“He’s been unfortunate because going way back to the Marseille game in pre-season, we played so well I didn’t want to change the team from that day.
“And then we’ve had a really good start to the season, it’s been difficult for him to get his opportunity in the Premier League.
“[The Blackburn game] I think is his best performance. I think MK Dons in the previous round, he was maybe over-trying but [on Tuesday] I thought he was very good and he was a key performer to why we played so well.
“I’ve got some tough calls to make for Crystal Palace.”