"I haven’t seen him" - Howe issues fitness update for West Ham trip and reveals London plan
Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media this morning ahead of tomorrow night's trip to West Ham; our first of three straight away games in the Premier League.
Starting on the fitness front, he gave very little away on Joe Willock - who went off holding his hamstring on Sunday. Howe says he's yet to see the midfielder, claiming it's "too early" to say if he'll be fit for the game.
He admitted after the Man Utd win that it may have been cramp, so let's hope there's no injury to his muscle and he's fine to feature at the London Stadium. Aside from that, it seems there's no new injury issues, just a few 'tired bodies' after that huge effort just a few days ago.
It's also emerged that we'll spent then next five days in London, where we'll stay and train now tomorrow's trip to West Ham is followed by another away-day at Brentford on Saturday.
Howe also praised the inner determination and 'steeliness' of his squad, revealing how motivated we are to keep this run going and build on three-straight wins, also shutting down those 'time-wasting' claims once again, insisting we want to play at a high tempo and wear teams own physically, not waste time.
Howe on Joe Willock and any other fitness issues in the squad:
"I haven’t seen him [Willock] this morning so I’ll probably have to ring you later! I’ve not seen him so it’s too early.
I think we’re reasonably okay. There’s a few tired bodies in the squad. It was a really big, physical effort for us in the game. Hopefully nothing too major.
Howe on plans to stay in London all week:
"Yes, we plan to stay in London. We want to minimise travelling to not fatigue the players really. So hopefully we get that preparation right."
Howe on our top-four mission:
"We are on a mission to try and win and to try and achieve and to try and be the best we can be. I've sensed that from the players this season that there is a real inner determination, a steeliness about us, that we're not here to waste time."
Howe on three straight away games:
"We love playing at home and our results there have been good but our results on the road have been pretty consistent as well. We're going to need to take points in this spell so we know what's ahead."
Howe on those 'time-wasting' jibes:
"Our first intention is to always play the game and, as I said, we want the ball in play. I encourage my players all the time to get the ball back in play very quickly. We want to play at a high tempo. We want to try and wear teams down physically."
Howe on the test West Ham will pose:
