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Cherries will look at a 'slower process' to end Stanislas's injury torment

AFC Bournemouth v  Huddersfield in Championship game at Vitality Stadium. Junior Stanislas.
AFC Bournemouth v Huddersfield in Championship game at Vitality Stadium. Junior Stanislas.

CHERRIES boss Scott Parker insisted the club would take a “slower process” in a bid to end Junior Stanislas’s injury torment.

The winger suffered a hamstring problem in recent weeks, which could rule him out of action for three months in total.

The 32-year-old has been dogged by injuries all season, playing just 202 minutes across eight appearances since signing a fresh two-year deal with Cherries in the summer.

He missed a big chunk of games earlier this season due to a hamstring injury, before returning to make two substitute appearances in October.

Stanislas then suffered a recurrence of the problem, forcing him out for a further eight matches.

He came back into contention for the trip to Middlesbrough on December 18, coming off the bench.

The former Burnley man then made just his second start of the campaign against QPR on December 27, providing an assist in the 1-0 victory.

A shoulder problem saw Stanislas forced off at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, but he was deemed fit enough to be included in the matchday squad for the visit of Cardiff City to Vitality Stadium three days later.

A 14-minute cameo appearance off the bench was Stanislas’s most recent match action and he looks set for a lengthy spell out once again.

Asked how big a blow it was to lose the winger, who helped Cherries seal promotion in 2015, Parker told the Daily Echo: “It’s been a tough season for Junior. There’s no denying that it’s been really, really tough.

“This is part and parcel sometimes of professional sport. It can be a bit cruel. When you are really at the brink of it sometimes, you go through these spells. That’s where Junior is at this current moment in time really.

“A mixture of things – being unlucky just at certain moments. Just when we think we have got him to a place, he’s broken down.

“He’s picked up little niggles, which has probably made it stop-start throughout the season. He’s never really been able to get a real good block in.

“He came in late, so didn’t get a pre-season with the team but probably has always been chasing his tail a little bit – hence why maybe he’s picked up these little niggles along the way.

“I’m gutted for him because he’s someone who is desperate to play. I’m gutted for the team as well because I know Junior can contribute.

“He’s a top player and I know he can help this team. It’s just a shame he’s not been able to be consistently fit to help us.

“Look, what’s important now is he gets right, we get him back, we don’t push too much, we take our medicine here a little bit and understand it’s probably going to be a little bit more of a slower process now.

“Getting him strong, getting him to a level where he can consistently stay fit now. That’s the most important thing for Junior.”

Stanislas first signed for Cherries under Eddie Howe in 2014 and has gone on to make 174 appearances in all competitions – scoring 36 times.

Asked how tough it was for the former Burnley and West Ham ace to be hit with another setback, Parker added: “Mentally is the hardest thing when you are injured. That’s the toughest point.

“All you want to do is play football every day. You walk into a training facility, sit on the couch and see everyone else walk past with their boots on to go and play football, while you are in a room with the doctors.

“That over a long period of time can be deflating and tough for injured players. I am always very conscious that for injured players, the hardest part for those boys is the mental side of things and the psychology side of it.

“Junior is going through that at this present moment in time. He’s had a lot of setbacks, a lot of disappointment.

“Just when he thinks he has come out of it, he has been nudged back.

“It’s going to be important that we get around him. He will come out of this, no doubt, and he will be better for it.”