Written by Adam McGroarty (@AdamMcGroarty)
AFC Bournemouth manager Jonathan Woodgate is eyeing his side’s eighth league win in a row on Saturday as the Cherries host promotion rivals Brentford.
A win against the Bees would see Woodgate’s side equal a club record with eight consecutive league wins, and the Cherries boss is keen to keep seeing his side climb up the Championship table.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s fixture, Woodgate said: “I just want to finish as high as we can in the table.
“If we beat records, then we beat them, but the main thing is we finish as high as possible. It will be very difficult against a Brentford team, second-top goalscorers in the league, won a lot of games this season, they will be hard to beat.
“We know what it is going to be like. Bring it on.”
The previous encounter between the two sides saw the Cherries lose 2-1 at the Brentford Community Stadium. Speaking about the prospect of an exciting game, Woodgate said: “I’ll take a 1-0 now, I don’t care how we win!”
The Cherries have found their goalscoring form in recent games, netting 21 goals in the last seven games. “It doesn’t happen overnight you need time,” Woodgate added.
“We have tried to do certain drills but it’s individual brilliance at certain times, you can’t always coach that.
“Some of the goals at Millwall were exceptional, especially the last goal. That’s what you ask for from these players.”
Woodgate revealed Shane Long and Lloyd Kelly are expected to be sidelined for “a couple of weeks” with the pair nursing injuries, while Lewis Cook will miss the remainder of the season.
The former centre-back also expressed his frustration at the fixture schedule in recent weeks. Speaking to Nerve Sport, he said: “I would prefer this game to have been on the Sunday so that we could have got a day’s more rest.
“We played Huddersfield on a Tuesday, Norwich on the Saturday, Millwall on Wednesday and on Saturday we’ve got Brentford.
“All away from home, it’s ridiculous.
“We played at Norwich, home at 4:30 in the morning, played at Millwall, home at 12:30 in the morning, and then we get the early kick-off on the Saturday at 12:30! It’s ridiculous, but we’ve just got to get on with it.
“We’ve got a lot of tired players to be honest with you.”
AFC Bournemouth host Brentford in the Championship at 12:30pm on Saturday 24 April.