Eddie Howe has outlined Allan Saint-Maximin's role for the second half of the season.
The Frenchman has not started a Premier League match since August and accepted he was no longer an automatic choice in a candid interview back in December. But with injuries in midfield and Eddie Howe looking at dropping back Joelinton into the engine room, the ex-Nice man could benefit.
Howe said today: "It’s going to be huge for him personally, and huge for us that we get him in the best possible place to play. Physically, I think he’s in a good place now, probably the best he’s been since his injury.
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"It was a difficult injury for him because he didn’t just injure his hamstring once, he injured it twice. So that really did delay his comeback. I do think he’s looked really good from the bench in recent weeks, and hopefully, that has helped his confidence levels so that he can play a different role for us.
"There’s competition for places, and that’s what we need in every position because you know that one bad game or a couple of bad games can leave you out of the team and give someone an opportunity to take your place. "Hopefully, that will help us in what will be a congested second half of the season."
Howe says he will not be asking Saint-Maximin to do anything differently, such as a focus on tracking back, although the winger has shown he is capable of that in recent cameos from the bench.
He explained: "I think you have to accept players for their strengths. There’ll be no better player at doing what Allan does well in the league in my opinion.
"You can never force a player to play like someone else. Allan is unique, but we just need to make sure we see his strengths, and that comes down to the team giving him the ball in the right areas, and then Allan executing what he needs to do.
"Yes, our wide men do work extremely hard, and that’s no doubt contributed to our very good defensive record. Not just our wide men, but our midfield as well. But the team needs to function well to win, and it’s never just down to one player."
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