Cardiff City will not have to face in-form Wales star David Brooks when Bournemouth visit Neil Warnock’s side on Saturday night – much to the manager’s relief.
Brooks – whose brilliance this season has made him the best young player in the Premier League according to Warnock – is set to be sidelined for four to five weeks with an ankle injury.
The 21-year-old midfielder sustained the injury during Bournemouth’s 4-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday night, after he had scored the second goal on the night, his sixth in the Premier League this season.
It means he will miss the 5.30pm kick-off against the Bluebirds as well as matches against Liverpool on February 9th, at home to Wolves on February 23rd, at Arsenal on Wednesday 27th and at home to Manchester City on March 2nd.
Brooks has become one of the most talked about players in the game in recent weeks after a series of stunning performances for Eddie Howe’s side.
Manchester United and Tottenham are both reported to be keen to sign the player who is certain to become a key figure for Wales manager Ryan Giggs as he prepares for the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign later this year.
The youngster moved from Warnock’s former club Sheffield United for £11.5m last year and the Cardiff boss said: “We couldn’t afford that and he’s probably worth three or four times that now.
“He’s probably the best young player in the League and he’s got that little bit about him, that Giggs thing.
“I’m sure Eddie will be pleased with how he’s performed. I think he’ll be a top European player in the next three or four years. He’s a sensible lad and he’ll go right up to the top.”
Warnock was pleased with his team’s display in the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal – their first match since the trauma caused by the disappearance of record signing Emiliano Sala.
But with the team now four points adrift of safety – having been four points clear just a month before – he recognises that they have to start picking up points over the next six games if they are to survive, starting with Bournemouth.
“It’s a good challenge. They’ve done what we’d like to do over the next four or five years. They’ve invested heavily, took Brooks from my old club Sheffield United, and signed Jefferson Lerma.
“I looked at signing Lerma for £5m and they ended up signing him for £25m. They’ve done really well, Eddie is a nice guy, and I was pleased when he went back to Bournemouth.
“We have to come up with a formula to get points on the board. People will write us off and quite rightly so.
“Other clubs have players like (Solomon) Rondon and (Alexander) Mitrovic, doing what they are doing, but we don’t have one of them. So it is more difficult for us, we have to make our own luck now and really have a go.”
Cardiff’s Deadline Day signing Leandro Bacuna is expected to make his home debut.
Bacuna is set to replace Harry Arter with the Republic of Ireland midfielder unable to play against his parent club.
Cherries manager Howe has challenged his side to make their impressive win over Chelsea a turning point to push back up the Premier League table.
“Tough games on the horizon but I think they always are in the Premier League. I never see an easy schedule,” Howe said.
“The win against Chelsea will hopefully launch us into a new feeling that we can beat and compete against the top six.”