Bournemouth suffer Lloyd Kelly injury blow ahead of Aston Villa clash

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has revealed that defender Lloyd Kelly has been ruled out for "some weeks".

After failing to win his opening nine Premier League games, Iraola has overseen three victories in Bournemouth's last four top-flight fixtures.

Having seen his side claim consecutive wins over Newcastle United and Sheffield United, Iraola is hoping to guide his team to another victory in Sunday's home clash with Aston Villa.

However, if the Cherries are to claim maximum points, they will have to do it without Kelly, who picked up an injury last weekend.

The 25-year-old was forced off at half time against Sheffield United and is now set for a spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring issue.

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The Bournemouth boss told reporters: "It's really bad news for Lloyd Kelly. He has a muscle injury that will keep him out for some weeks.

"He has been performing really well since the beginning. At centre-back he's done very well, on the side he's done very well and is a very good defender.

"Obviously you never want your best players injured, but this is happening to all the teams and we have to be ready to be solid without him and we have very good alternatives.

"The timing isn't good with a lot of games coming up, key games for us, but we hope that nothing else happens in training and we'll have the same squad available to us from the weekend."

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Kelly has showcased his versatility during the 2023-24 campaign, having been used as a central defender and a left-back.

With Kelly unable to feature in Sunday's contest, Iraola could bring Hungary international Milos Kerkez into the starting lineup.

In addition to Kelly, Bournemouth are also without the services of Max Aarons, Ryan Fredericks, Emiliano Marcondes, Tyler Adams and Alex Scott.

Having picked up 12 points from 13 matches, the Cherries are sitting in 16th place and seven points above the drop zone.