Very few would have envisaged Bournemouth and Chelsea being sat on the same amount of points at this stage of the campaign. But due to the contrasting fortunes of the two clubs, they go into Saturday's clash sat in 13th and 12th respectively.

A win for the hosts will continue an incredible run of form for Gary O'Neil and his troops, The Cherries have won six of their previous nine games, including victories over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

As for Frank Lampard, he has lost all six of his matches since returning to the club he is adored at. This is the worst streak Chelsea has put together for 30 years, so will Gary O'Neil be able to cause more damage to the West Londoners' armour?

Since the turn of the year, Cook has struggled for minutes mainly due to the impressive form of Joe Rothwell. For many years, Cook had been part of a midfield trio alongside Jefferson Lerma and Phillip Billing but Rothwell's has seemingly nabbed the 26-year-old's starting place in recent months.

O'Neil was asked how Cook has been coping.

"He's been fine. He's fully on board with understanding what's needed. It's not about any one individual these next few weeks. It's about all of us pulling together and Lew understands that."

Cook also suffered an injury that brought him off against Brentford in the middle of January, a turning point in his personal campaign.

"Of course, if you get an unfortunate injury, you are open to the fact people can come in and do well and then you have to fight hardtop get your place back. I'm sure Lew will be back in the team at some point. There's always things that happen.

"He's working hard in training every day to prove he's ready and I can see he's ready for when the opportunity comes up. He'll be ready to grasp it, I'm sure."

  • On a lack of penalties

Bournemouth remains the only side to have not been awarded a penalty in the Premier League this season, while every other club has been given at least two.

O'Neil was asked for his opinion on this and some recent contentious decisions :

"I think there's maybe some tidying up to do around the subjective decisions. Obviously the factual ones are clear. You can see VAR helps massively with the offside goal at Southampton.

"The handballs, it's probably not a VAR thing, I guess it's just the guy that is making the decision at that time. There's just been so many weird ones.

"Away at Brighton, I think we had another handball similar to Southampton. Ryan Christie crosses it to someone and it hits the defender on the hand in a similar position.

"Then we have Jefferson Lerma at Newcastle and I just can't see any difference."

Head Coach Gary O'Neil of Bournemouth during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United at Vitality Stadium on April 23, 2023 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
Head Coach Gary O'Neil of Bournemouth during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United at Vitality Stadium on April 23, 2023 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
  • On Chelsea

O'Neil spoke about the current state of Saturday's opponents, Chelsea. Frank Lampard's troops have endured a traumatic term with all eyes on next season already.

​​​​​​​"We're definitely not favourites for tomorrow, absolutely no chance.

"When it starts to click for them, I'm sure they'll be very, very dangerous."

  • On Injuries

​​​​​​​The Bournemouth manager mentioned Marcus Tavernier, Hamed Traorè and Kieffer Moore when asked about the current injury situation.

"Tav is a muscle injury which is one that he's had a few times, but Traorè is a contact injury. Hopefully we see Hamed back on the pitch this season.

"Kieffer Moore also isn't available for tomorrow with his concussion. He's been able to do some training within what's allowed, but the last game was Sunday, so it means he wouldn't be available tomorrow."

O'Neil went into further detail about Tavernier due to his importance to the side this year whether that be as a winger or a wing-back, the 24-year-old has looked like a bargain at £10m.

​​​​​​​"We're still not clear on how long it will be, if we were scrapping and desperate to stay in the Premier League, I still wouldn't be sure how long it would be.

"At the moment, my main concern with Tav is that he's absolutely spot on by 1st July, but that doesn't mean we've seen the end of him this season. It could only be two weeks, so we'll see."

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