Eddie Howe heaps praise on a couple of Bournemouth’s in-form midfielders. Harry Kane talks goals, Manuel Pellegrini discusses David Silva’s dodgy ankle and Guus Hiddink ponders Chelsea’s options up front.

Howe hails Gradel and King impact

Since making his comeback in Gameweek 27 from a lengthy injury layoff, Max Gradel has injected Bournemouth’s attack with fresh impetus. Besides serving up a goal and assist last weekend, the Ivorian winger ranked joint-third among midfielders for shots inside the box (seven) across the previous four Gameweeks. Incidentally, Cherries striker Joshua King – who’s classified as a midfielder by the Fantasy Premier League – ranked top for shots inside the box (10) during the same time frame, underlining the value of their budget recruits. Speaking on the form duo, Eddie Howe praised the ability of both players after their return saw his side rack up three wins and a draw in the last four matches:

“Max is a goalscorer. You don’t score the amount he managed in the top league in France last year if you’re not a creative player and have the ability to get goals and his finish was an outstanding one and he got an assist. I’m really pleased for him individually as he has had a dark time this season. It’s great to see him come through that and see him on the pitch…I think it is all linked to self-belief and confidence. Josh has all the attributes; he’s quick, he’s strong, he’s got a good touch and knows where the goal is. He was producing some excellent performances without the goals for a long time but now I’m really pleased because every striker needs the goals to back that up with and he needs to find the net regularly now.”

Koeman pleased with Pelle performance

Ending a run of 12 appearances without a goal, Graziano Pelle stunned Stoke City with a first-half brace at the Britannia Stadium. Given that Charlie Austin isn’t expected to recover from his knee injury until after the international break, Pelle will be afforded another opportunity to cement a slot in the starting XI when Liverpool pay a visit on Sunday. Discussing the Italian’s return to the scoresheet, Ronald Koeman – who retained Pelle as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1, with fit-again Shane Long stationed in a central support berth against the Potters – praised the former’s all-round performance as he looks to nail down a regular role once again:

“I was very impressed with Graziano. Not only with the two goals. It’s a great corner from Davis for the first one and a great header, but the whole individual performance from Graziano was amazing. He was strong, he was winning battles and scoring and that is what you expect. It was a good reaction at the right time. You need personality to come back. Graziano was struggling with some knee problems, but it’s always about confidence for strikers. If he realises what he did here to score and fight for the team, then he will score more goals for us.”

Curtis praises Barrow showing

In light of Andre Ayew and Jefferson Montero being unavailable for Swansea City’s trip to Bournemouth, Modou Barrow earned a rare start on the right flank. The 4.3-priced forward went on to become the first Gambian player to score in the Premier League and also delivered an assist, giving rise to a 12-point haul. The Swans’ assistant manager, Alan Curtis, believes that Barrow is short on match fitness but provides their attack with much-needed pace as they attempt to clinch survival:

“Mo’s a really good trainer, but there’s a difference between being fit and match fit. It’s now just a question of him getting more game-time, really. We haven’t stretched him enough for 90 minutes and he hasn’t needed to play 90 minutes so we haven’t had to ask him to. But he’ll get a huge benefit from (playing 80 minutes at) Bournemouth. I thought he was excellent — the best and the most dangerous player on the park. When he went off it slowed our momentum down a little bit. But his performance, and scoring his first league goal, was a huge bonus for us. The more he plays the stronger he’ll become. The one thing you want is not to play against his pace. We need Mo fit, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s goals and a couple of others to chip in and hopefully that will see us through.”

Benitez on Sissoko’s improving threat

Although Newcastle United succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in Rafa Benitez’s first match at the helm, Moussa Sissoko was one player that turned out an impressive performance. In terms of his attacking output, only two midfielders mustered more attempts (three) and shots inside the box (three) last Gameweek. Furthermore, the all-action Frenchman was typically tigerish in the centre of the park, charting joint-second among his counterparts for loose-ball recoveries (11). Chiefly, Benitez was appreciative of Sissoko’s attacking potential ahead of the weekend home derby against Sunderland:

“I was really pleased with Sissoko. I was telling him he had to go and get into the box. He was there and had one or two chances. There were a lot of positives with players who want to be seen to be important.”

Pellegrini admits Silva is playing through the pain barrier

David Silva enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign, chalking up six assists in five starts. Since vacating the treatment room in Gameweek 14, however, the Spain international has recorded just one goal and four assists in 16 appearances, rendering him a peripheral figure on the Fantasy scene. Offering some possible insight into the cause of his slump, Manuel Pellegrini revealed that Silva is still enduring pain from the ankle injury he sustained earlier in the season:

“We are always talking with the doctor and David. He feels some pain in his ankle, but he says that he can play. But I don’t want to focus that we could not score goals (against Norwich) because David has a problem in his ankle because last game we scored four against Aston Villa.”

Kane explains early-season goal drought

With a single goal to his name in the first nine Gameweeks, Harry Kane had struggled to live up to the sort of displays that saw him notch 21 times in 2014/15. Since, then, though, the striker has emphatically returned to form, embarking on a run of 18 goals in 21 league outings as the spearhead of Tottenham’s title bid. Discussing his improvement, Kane – who is top among forwards for attempts (24), shots inside the box (18) and shots on target (12) across the previous four matches – conceded that he’s had to develop his game in order to excel in the final third:

“There was a lot of talk at the start of the season but the top players in the world find a way to get around (challenges) and score 20 or 30 goals, season after season. I want to be one of the top strikers and I know I have to find ways to score goals that are different from last season because there is probably more attention than there was last year. Defenders get tighter this year. Whenever I get in a position to shoot, there are two or three people trying to block the shot. That’s one of the little things I’ve noticed and I definitely see little differences from last season. If you want to be a player scoring goals every year in the Premier League, you have to be able to cope with that.”

Hiddink discusses forward pecking order

Diego Costa incurred a two-match ban for an altercation with Gareth Barry in the FA Cup, paving the way for another of Chelsea’s forwards to spearhead the attack. Interim boss Guus Hiddink pointed out he has numerous options available to fill the void but hinted that Bertrand Traore has impressed. Classified as a midfielder in FPL and priced at 5.4, the youngster started up top against Stoke in the previous league match due to a minor injury to Costa and opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw:

“Falcao is growing in terms of his fitness, increasing the intensity, and that is encouraging for him and us. Pato is the same. It’s about competition. I want to have a fair judgement on the players in a striking position, which is now different to when Pato came in. At that time we didn’t have Remy or Falcao, either. We didn’t know about Traore, who has made an impact and developed quickly. So there is a kind of hierarchy as to who is knocking on the door as to who might replace Diego as first-choice.”