Amidst the poor start to the season, Bournemouth have got a solid injury boost in the return of their young midfielder Emerson Hyndman who has been out so far owing to a stress fraction to his foot. Boss Eddie Howe was undoubtedly delightful to see him return ahead of schedule and running from what he called a ‘difficult injury’.
Hyndman has already played a development game for Bournemouth’s Under- 21s against Brentford on his return and he was also selected for the squad that played Birmingham City in the Carabao Cup. Although he didn’t get game time, it showed the immense trust that Howe has on a fit Hyndman.
The United States international was selected for Under-21s a day later against Exeter City where he scored in Bournemouth’s 4-1 win. Expressing his happiness to see the former Fulham man up and running, Howe stated to Daily Echo, “It is really nice to see Emerson back. We have had to treat his injury very carefully. It was a difficult one to manage during pre-season, where he would train and just suffer a reaction.
“It looks like now he is over that and, in the couple of games he has had, he has done very well, so I am looking to see more of him in the next few weeks,” said Howe.
It goes without saying that the 21-year-old commands a lot of respect from some of the senior players at Vitality Stadium with their star midfielder Harry Arter being one of them. The Irish midfield maestro believes Hyndman and Lewis Cook are among the top blossoming talents in the Premier League and has kept him on his toes for a first team place.
“Emerson had a great loan spell at Rangers and Lewis had a terrific summer. We all know they are more than capable of playing at this level. They are progressing very well and represent competition for places,” said Arter.
It was against an EFL Cup game against Morecambe last August when the fans saw a glimpse of Hyndman as he came to replace Max Gradel late on in the game. Following two more cup appearances, the club had to loan him off to Scottish Premiership side Rangers in January as they couldn’t afford to give him first team chances just yet.
SPL proved to be too easy for the 21-year-old as he opened his account for the Ibrox side in his second game against Motherwell and went on to score four goals in 10 games. Unfortunately, his brilliant run came to a halt due to the stress fracture in his foot sustained at the end of his spell and he missed the final three fixtures.
Howe has plenty of options in his midfield in the likes of Arter, Andrew Surman and Dan Gosling and while it might take Hyndman longer time to break into the first team, him playing with the first team side would be fruitful.
