Iraola hints at January reinforcements as AFC Bournemouth hindered by injury again

Boss Andoni Iraola hinted AFC Bournemouth may delve into the January market for defensive reinforcements, after they lost another full-back through injury.

The Spanish head coach was speaking after seeing his side defeated 4-0 by Liverpool at Vitality Stadium.

Having used all five of their permitted substitutes, Cherries finished the game with 10 men after right-back Max Aarons hobbled off late on through injury.

The Dorset club already have the likes of full-backs Adam Smith, Milos Kerkez and Ryan Fredericks on the sidelines.

Asked whether he could look to get a body in to reinforce in January, Iraola told Sky Sports: “Probably. Probably we will need some new players because we are thin right now.

“But I don’t know what is going to happen. There is still a lot of days in the market but it’s true that especially in these positions we are very thin.”

Doubles from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota during the second half saw Jurgen Klopp’s Reds ease to victory on the south coast.

Defeat to the league leaders. pic.twitter.com/uMtGVcCcgQ

— AFC Bournemouth ?? (@afcbournemouth) January 21, 2024

Defeat left Cherries 12^th in the Premier League table, with 25 points from 20 games.

Iraola added: “We think we are going to lose Max Aarons, we finished with 10 players.

“He felt something. We were really thin with the full-backs because of the injuries we have in this position.

“We have Adam Smith out, we have Milos Kerkez out. With Lloyd Kelly, we kind of had him for some minutes.

“We have to think. We have another cup game now close and we have to see who is available. We are going to be thin in this defensive side.”

The Dorset club host Swansea in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Thursday (7.45pm).