Written by Toby Foster (@TobyFost)
AFC Bournemouth boss Jason Tindall vowed that his players will maintain their forward momentum when taking on Wayne Rooney’s Derby County on Saturday at the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries have notched up four wins and four draws from their first eight fixtures as they readjust to life in the Championship – and are now the only side in the top four divisions who remain undefeated.
But Tindall believes that preserving the now-lengthy run of games without a defeat must not come at the expense of the attacking mentality his team have shown in recent weeks.
“We don’t talk about being unbeaten in eight. It’s something that happened, but it has happened because we go out to attack, we go out to score goals and we go out to win every single game that we play,” Tindall told Nerve Sport.
“That’s our mindset. That’s how I like to set my teams up as a manager and that’s what we’ll continue to do.
“We won’t go out there and try and protect an unbeaten run, we’ll go out there to attack and to try and win games.”
Tindall was keen to praise Derby, despite their challenging start to the new campaign which sees them currently occupying a position inside the Championship relegation zone.
“Derby have not got off to a great start so far this season, but they’re a big club and they’ve got some great players”, the Bournemouth boss said.
“We’ve just got to make sure that we focus and concentrate on us, and do what we’ve got to do to go out there and deliver a really great performance that gets us three points.
“The most important thing is that we did get off to a good start [to the campaign] off the back of what happened to us last year.
“I feel we’re in a good place, I feel there’s a lot more to come from the team.”
One talent who has flourished under Tindall’s new leadership is striker Dominic Solanke, who endured a challenging start to his time on the South Coast after being signed by the Cherries from Liverpool January 2019. Despite these initial setbacks, Solanke appears to now be a force to be reckoned with in the Bournemouth forward line.
And Tindall had only glowing praise for the way in which the 23-year-old Englishman, who assisted Arnaut Danjuma’s equaliser in midweek, has gone about his business so far this season.
“Dom’s playing, he’s confident, he knows what I think of him as a player and as a person, and he’s going out there and delivering really good consistent team performances,” Tindall told Nerve Sport.
“I’m delighted to see the level of performance that Dom’s showing so far this season. He’s a huge player for us and is going to be really important for us for the remainder of the season.”
Tindall confirmed that the clash with Derby could see the long-awaited return of Cherries midfielder David Brooks from injury – as the highly-rated Welshman is “ready to be involved”.
AFC Bournemouth take on Derby County at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday 31st October at 3pm.