Written by Carlo Simone (@CSimonejourno)
After a 4-1 victory over Coventry City at the weekend put AFC Bournemouth back into the play-off places, the Cherries now travel to Yorkshire to face Huddersfield Town.
Speaking to the press ahead of the match, manager Jonathan Woodgate was pleased to have Junior Stanislas available again, having missed out on the last few games due to a hamstring problem.
“He’s been brilliant for us this season with the goals he’s scored and assisted,” he said.
“[There is] a lot of competition for places now so [it’s] great for the team.”
The win over Coventry was Bournemouth’s fourth in a row since losing to fellow promotion hopefuls Barnsley last month, which allowed them to leapfrog Reading into sixth place. The Cherries will have the confidence to keep it that way with just six games left, and also having the advantage of a game in hand over the Royals.
Woodgate said: “The players know what we want from them now. The defeat against Barnsley gave them a real kick-up the backside for what we needed to do to get back into the play-off positions.”
“We’ve done that but we need to build on it again. You can win four on the spin but it’s nothing if you don’t win the next game.
“It’s important that we build momentum going into the big games we’ve got left of the season. After this one there’s five left in the league [and] we need to win as many as we can.
“We’re in a good place at the minute, scoring goals, but we need to be more consistent in games now,” he added.
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With the Cherries now sitting just inside the play-off places, Woodgate doesn’t feel there is any extra pressure on this side now that they have something to hold onto.
Speaking to Nerve Sport, Woodgate said: “The pressure’s on everyone in that area, not just us.
“We’re not just chasing Reading, we’re chasing Barnsley, Swansea and Brentford. We want to finish as high as we can in the table, so that’s the most important thing.
Opponents Huddersfield have found wins hard to come by in 2021, having only secured two out of a possible 18 Championship games since the beginning of January. They currently find themselves in 19th place, eight points clear of the relegation zone, but are likely safe at this stage of the season.
Woodgate is however, not underestimating the threat the Terriers could cause.
“Every team’s dangerous, no matter what team you play in this league every team’s dangerous because upsets can happen. [It’s] notorious for things like that,” he said.
“We won’t underestimate this Huddersfield team, like we didn’t underestimate Coventry, like we didn’t underestimate Blackburn, or Middlesbrough or Swansea.
“I think that possession-wise in this league they’re third or fourth, so they can keep the ball, so hopefully we press well, get the ball back and score some goals.”
Bournemouth kick-off at 5.30pm on Tuesday at the John Smith’s Stadium, with the game available to watch on iFollow.