Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke is a doubt to face Arsenal, Scott Parker has confirmed.
The 24-year-old former Chelsea and Liverpool forward missed the Cherries' 4-0 defeat against defending Premier League champions Manchester City last weekend through injury and is set to face a late fitness test ahead of Saturday's late kick-off to determine his availability for the Gunners' visit.
"Dominic Solanke is a maybe, we'll have to assess him tomorrow and make a call," Parker told reporters during his pre-match press conference. In addition, the same applies to summer signing Marcos Senesi following a full week of training under his belt after a 10-minute cameo off the bench at the Etihad Stadium.
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"Marcos came in late last week and I didn’t think it was the right game for him to come into, he’d barely had any training with the group," the Bournemouth boss revealed. "He’s had another week of training and is in a better place to come in at the weekend. We’ll see where we are tomorrow, and I’ll make the call on him. He’s in a better position this week in terms of the training he’s done and the work he’s had to do."
Whilst Solanke and Senesi could be available for selection against the Gunners, Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell are among three Bournemouth players whom Parker will definitely be without as he delivered an update on those absentees on Thursday.
"It’s too early for Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell to come back in," he added. "Otherwise, everyone has come out of last week's game well."
Amid the fantastic news that David Brooks has been cancer-free since May and has made a full recovery after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma - a rare type of cancer which develops in the immune system - and is edging ever closer to returning to action, Saturday's game comes too soon.
"David is pushing on really. He's now with the team, modified in terms of his training, but he's with us. He's no longer on his own," Parker revealed. "So now he's split between the two groups of being on his own and also being with us in a controlled environment. I'd like to think that maybe over the next week or 10 days, we can start pushing him into full training. And then from there try and get him up to a level and speed of participating at Premier League level really."
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