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ESPN staff 7y

Bournemouth's Eddie Howe doesn't believe Jack Wilshere's injury is serious

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe says he does not believe Jack Wilshere suffered a serious injury in Monday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Both Wilshere and Simon Francis had to come off after picking up first-half injuries as Bournemouth continued their winless start to 2017.

Wilshere has played well on loan from Arsenal this season after a number of injury-plagued seasons at the Emirates, but Howe said he didn't expect the 25-year-old to miss extended time.

"Jack is just feeling his ankle. I don't think there's a major injury there," Howe said. "He just felt he couldn't move as freely as he wanted to and had a pain in his ankle, so we took him off."

Howe said the injuries were too much for his side to overcome against City.

"Losing both players within one half of football was a huge blow," he said. "To lose a player of Jack's quality was a huge blow. We had a go, but ultimately [City] were too good.

"Simon felt his hamstring and Jack had a pain in his ankle, we will reassess both injuries and hopefully they are nothing serious."

Bournemouth also had a first-half goal from Joshua King disallowed for a foul on John Stones when they were 1-0 down, but Howe agreed referee Neil Swarbrick's decision was correct.

"I thought that goal should have stood at the time, but there's a clear pull there," said the 39-year-old.

Howe's men had a few chances at goal after Raheem Sterling's equaliser, but after Sergio Aguero forced a Tyrone Mings own goal the hosts rarely threatened.

"Ultimately second goal was the killer," Howe said. "I felt we worked incredibly hard, were disciplined in defensive shape, rode our luck in stages but it was an even, competitive game. We had a few players not at 100 percent fitness.

"We have to be positive, we have a break in Premier League calendar, we have to come back refreshed to fight for survival, as that is the situation we are in."

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