Rose confirms Bournemouth star returns to training

Marco Rose confirmed that striker Eli Junior Kroupi is back training with the first-team squad after injuring his foot in pre-season.

The 20-year-old scored 13 Premier League goals last campaign but is yet to appear this season, although he could feature against Manchester United on Sunday.

Speaking ahead of Bournemouth’s Europa League tie against AC Milan, Rose also gave an update on midfielder Alex Scott, who sustained an injury while impressing on international duty with England.

When asked about the possibility of Scott re-joining first-team training, Rose said: “We needed to see how he would respond to the load. The response wasn’t perfect on the first day, but it has been much better following that.

“We will now look to step up his training plan, but he won’t be available for the next two weeks.”

Bournemouth welcome the 19-time Italian champions to the Vitality Stadium on Thursday night in a clash few would have expected 15 years ago when the Cherries finished mid-table in League One.

Speaking ahead of the game, Rose said: “It is a huge game and we are looking forward to it, but the club has played a much bigger game before.

“Many years ago, after the points deduction, they needed to win their last game at home [against Grimsby] and Steve Fletcher scored the winning goal. That’s the foundation of why we are here now, playing these kinds of games.

“If we’re able to clarify our situation in this competition, it will make things easier going forward. We have many games before the international break so, for that reason, we should grab everything that we can. We will be going full in on Thursday.”

Bournemouth picked up their first win of the Premier League season on Sunday, defeating Sunderland 2-0.

Rose said: “We feel we’re in a good spot. We have created a good momentum for ourselves now and we should use that to our advantage.”