Fresh start
AFC Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling admits that the teams start in the Championship has not been easy despite picking up seven points from three games.
After being relegated from the Premier League last season, The Cherries have played Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Norwich in their first three games of the new Championship season. They started off their campaign with a 3-2 win against Blackburn Rovers, who Gosling sees as a team who are favourites to be in the top six at the end of the season.
“We have had Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Norwich so it’s not been easy. Blackburn are probably one of the favourites I would say that will be up there for a promotion push, so to beat them on the first day was good.”
Following that, they faced a stubborn Middlesbrough side away at the Riverside Stadium, in a game which saw Bournemouth conced late on, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
More recently, Bournemouth came away 1-0 victors against Norwich who were also relegated from the top tier of English football last season, proving they have got off to a good start. However, the biggest concern of The Cherries midfielder was the fact that they had opportunities to win the game at Middlesbrough but did not take them, something which cannot happen at this level if they want to compete at the top of the table throughout the season.
“We beat Norwich last weekend on the back of their relegation as well, that was a big win, and again Middlesbrough, we probably should have won that, we had a great chance to make it two nil and we would be sitting pretty with 9 points. But yeah, it wasn’t to be.”
The thirty-year-old also explained how they cannot dwell on situations that have happened in previous games and need to ensure they are mentally prepared and focussed for the next game, which is on Friday, away at newly promoted Coventry City.
“The Championship is tough; it is a tough slog. But we have another game away on Friday night at Coventry. There is no easy game in this division, but I feel that it is down to us and the way we turn up mentally and whether we are going to be ready for the physical battle, winning second balls and doing all the ugly stuff really, because we have quality all over the pitch. As soon as we win that battle, I think our quality will tell and hopefully that is the case.”
Gosling has featured in all three games so far, starting once and coming on as a sub in the other two fixtures. He will hope to add to these appearances in the next three matches which are against Coventry, QPR and Cardiff with Bournemouth hoping to add to their tally of seven points that they have already recorded this season.
Image Rights: BournemouthEcho, SkySports
