Bournemouth - Blackpool: Hosts look to stay top of the table

With the top four of the Sky Bet Championship all on 66 points, a win for Bournemouth would see them stay top.

Bournemouth - Blackpool: Hosts look to stay top of the table
The Cherrie look to repeat December's result
joe-ball
By Joe Ball

Championship strugglers Blackpool face a daunting away trip to Bournemouth who have only lost once in their last 14 home league games. 

The Cherries currently sit top of the league on 66 points but are level with Derby County, Watford and Middlesbrough. A win would see keep them top, and a win is what many would expect.

The stats aren't pretty reading for the visitors. They haven't won away from home in the league at their last 18 attempts, and a trip to free-scoring Bournemouth is not what they would want in their bid to fight off relegation.

Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter was charged by the FA for an incident after the loss to Brentford and will serve a one-match ban. Eunan O'Kane and Dan Gosling have returned to training while Yann Kermorgant is back from a dead leg.

Blackpool winger Michael Jacobs could be included in the squad after joining on loan from Wolves. Captain Jamie O'Hara may feature while Tony McMahon and Andrea Orlandi  will be assessed.

Blackpool boss Lee Clark recognises his side face a massive challenge saying: "I believe they're the best team in the division, they've got strength in-depth on their substitutes bench," he said. "Just look at Miles Addison, he's come in and done really well for us but can't get near their matchday squad. That tells you the quality they have. Alongside Pritchard at Brentford, in Ritchie they have the most potent attacking player in the division." 

Clark went on to add: "We know it's going to be a really stern test, we've got be strong and take the game to them. We can't sit back for 90 minutes because they've got too much quality. We need to give them problems and work extremely hard without the ball." 

The teams met at Bloomfield Road in December where Eddie Howe's Bournemouth cruised to a 6-1 victory. 

Possible line-ups: 

Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Elphick, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter, Surman, Pugh, Pittman, Wilson

Blackpool: Parish, Dunne, Addison, Hall, McMahon, Telford, Perkins, O'Hara, Barkhuizen, Ferguson, Delfouneso