Boss Kieran McKenna is anticipating an open game as the Blues and AFC Bournemouth meet for the first time in the top flight at Portman Road on Sunday with Town again looking for their first home win of the season (KO 2pm).

McKenna’s side have a quick chance to bounce back from Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, which followed up a similarly narrow loss by the same scoreline at Nottingham Forest last Saturday.

Despite the two defeats, the Blues have moved up to 18th in the table, due to Wolves getting walloped 4-0 at Everton on Wednesday and the impact on their goal difference.

Asked how important it is for Town, whose home record from their seven games now reads drawn four, lost three, to get something from the Cherries’ visit, McKenna said “Very important as it is in all our games. All our games are an opportunity to get points and this is no different in that matter.

“Of course, to have two home games back-to-back, you want to get performances first and foremost, try and take the game to another level on Sunday if possible, and we're trying to pick up as many points as we can. So we're going to do everything we can to get some on Sunday.”

Bournemouth climbed to an impressive ninth in the table following Thursday evening’s excellent 1-0 home victory over Tottenham, which followed their 4-2 win at Wolves on Saturday, to give the Cherries their first back-to-back wins of the season.

Prior to that, they had lost two in a row, 2-1 at home to Brighton and 3-2 at Brentford, results which came immediately after a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium.

The success against Wolves was only Bournemouth’s second away win of the season, having beaten Everton 3-2 at Goodison Park in August, with their three defeats on the road a 3-0 reverse at Liverpool, a 1-0 loss at Leicester and the Bees’ recent victory.

In addition, they have drawn twice away, at Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, both 1-1.

The Dorset side are renowned for their quick transition and McKenna was quizzed on how difficult it is for their opposition to control possession and tempo.
 
“They're certainly very good on the transition,” McKenna reflected. “You saw that last night and you can see that in all the games.

“They have the most high turnovers in the league, I think, and they're there or thereabouts for the most turned into shots.

“We need to use the ball really, really well. We need to be really clean on our build-up and find a good balance to our game as well.

“And make sure we're positioned well whenever we have the ball and we’re in good positions whenever the turnovers come because they will come at times. We need to react well and we need to close off the spaces that they want to counter-attack into.

“So we're fully aware of their strengths. It's pretty clear, they’ve developed the team and the squad really, really well over the last few seasons and that's why they're doing well.

“They've certainly got strengths that we have to respect, but we believe we have strengths as well, and we'll try and impose them.”

But McKenna says all teams have areas or aspects of their play which can be exploited: “It's not necessarily weaknesses, but there's no playing style in the world that doesn't leave you one way or another.

“If you press high, you leave more space in behind. If you drop off, then you allow the opposition team to gain territory.

“Bournemouth are certainly an aggressive team. They run a lot. They're really constant with that, but, of course, that opens up space as well and they tend to have plenty of open games.

“So I think it should make for a good game, we like to play aggressive football as well. We're a team that are running a lot and competing really well, and I think it should make for a really good game on Sunday.”

Continuing further on the expectation that it will be an open game, the Northern Irishman added: “That's what we have to aim for. But we have to stop Bournemouth from reaching their best levels. If Bournemouth reach their best levels, they're further along the line than us, so we have to stop them from reaching their best levels and try to impose ourselves on them as much as possible.  
 
“There are not too many games this year where we can just have a free-for-all ding-dong against the other team and see who scores the most goals. We need to play smart. We need to play intense. We need to be organised. We need to be disciplined and also try to impose ourselves on the opposition while trying to limit them from doing the things they want to do.  
 
“That's going to be a good challenge on Sunday. They are certainly a team on good form. I think anyone who saw the game last night saw that it was a top, top performance against a Tottenham team, so we're going to have to work really, really hard to limit them and try and execute really well on and off the ball and on our set plays.”

McKenna was asked whether the two additional days the Blues will have had to recover from their midweek fixture will come into play.
 
“We can't count on that, I don't know,” he considered. “I'm sure they'll have their opinion and how they'll rotate or not rotate and what they think their players are capable of.

“They're in the top two pretty much for every physical marker you could have in the Premier League and they have a very fit squad.

“They've got, certainly in the forward areas, two top players for each position and they rotate in the games, and they sub reasonably early in the games very often. So we certainly can't go into the game thinking that we'll have any sort of advantage.  
 
“We need to expect to face a really, really good Bournemouth side, but we need to go into the game really positive and knowing that it's a home game.

“We've had a good couple of days to prepare and rest, and we always want to take on and make an intense game at home, and we've got an opportunity to try and do that on Sunday.”

Turning to the Portman Road atmosphere, which many felt was a little flat on Tuesday, McKenna stressed the role that the Town faithful can play as the Blues look for that elusive first home victory.
 
“I think everyone will know that that's really important,” he said. “There are two ways to do that. We try to create that with the performance as much as possible, but the supporters have a massive opportunity. They've supported us so well, so we can never complain about the support we get at this club, it’s amazing.  
 
“But there's an opportunity there to directly impact what happens on the pitch. It's probably easier to do that in reality against Liverpool, against Man United, against Aston Villa, who are competing in the Champions League.

“It's easier to create that because expectations are maybe lower. And if you said in our home games against Everton, probably against Crystal Palace, we haven't quite reached those heights in terms of the atmosphere on the pitch or off the pitch.  
 
“It's understandable because people really, really want the team to do well and look at the league table and attach extra significance to those types of games. 
 
“But I think we have to find a balance between backing ourselves and backing our group and our players, but also respecting the level of the opponent. Crystal Palace have had 10 years in the Premier League. They're a very, very good team. 
 
“The journey of our team, we know the journey of our players, and to have a 50-50 game against Crystal Palace, as the game was, takes the boys doing a lot of good stuff and working really, really hard.  
 
“But that might not always look or easily translate to what it might have looked like in the Championship or what it might have looked like in League One. But it doesn't mean they're working any less hard, they’re working harder, I can guarantee that. 
 
“We have incredible support. The game the other night, I think there were some good things in the performance. We don't have an even game with Crystal Palace if we're not doing some good things because of the level they have.

“We didn't manage to create as many chances or the intensity in the game as we would have wanted to make it a classic Portman Road game, but we're not always in control of that because there's another team out there trying to stop us from doing what we want to do.

“And they're much better at doing it than any teams this club has played in an awful lot of years.  
 
“So I think you take all those factors into consideration and then all we can do is crack on with the jobs, do our absolute best and try and play football in the way that makes our supporters proud and gives us the best chance to get points.

“Our supporters have been fantastic and I hope that they, and believe that they, will be right behind the players on Sunday. 
 
“Try and enjoy the game, get behind the players and enjoy the fact that we're competing against a really, really good Bournemouth side who are much better than any team we've played against in an awful lot of years of Portman Road.  
 
“Enjoy seeing the boys try and step up to that challenge, be right behind them. And when we do that, we know that gives us the best chance of getting a) the performance that we want, and b) most importantly, trying to get some points.”

The Team

McKenna has said he’s likely to make changes for the visit of the Cherries but Aro Muric is set to continue in goal.

At right-back McKenna could make a change with Harry Clarke having played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday, only his second start of the season in the Premier League after undergoing summer surgery and then missing out through suspension.

Ben Johnson was on the bench on Tuesday and seems likely to be ready to return to the XI having previously been out with a minor muscle issue. Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves look set to continue as the centre-halves.

McKenna admitted he and his staff were considering whether Jens Cajuste would be up to starting three games in eight days and it may well be that Kalvin Phillips, who was also on the bench on Tuesday, will be ready to return to the XI with the Swedish international coming on in the second half.

Skipper Sam Morsy will take up his usual position and will continue to look to avoid the fifth yellow card which would bring him a ban, having now gone seven games without a caution.

Omari Hutchinson, also on four bookings, could move out to the right to allow Conor Chaplin to come back into the side as the number 10 with Sammie Szmodics perhaps returning on the left having been left out in midweek. Liam Delap will continue as the number nine.

The Opposition

For Bournemouth, midfielder Alex Scott is out having undergone knee surgery a month ago, while Julián Araujo is another long-term absentee having had a hamstring op.

Former Leeds winger Luis Sinisterra is not expected to be ready to return, also due to a hamstring problem.

Argentine central defender Marcos Senesi suffered a quad injury against Wolves last week and is set for a long spell on the sidelines.

History

Overall, Town have won 14 (10 in the league) games between the sides, the Cherries 11 (11), while 12 (10) have been draws.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last seven against Bournemouth, the last four under Mick McCarthy all having been draws and the previous three Town wins, a two-legged League Cup tie under George Burley, 3-0 away and 2-1 at home, and a 3-0 FA Cup win under John Lyall.

Bournemouth last beat Town, then under the management of John Duncan, in the old Second Division at Dean Court in January 1990, 3-1, while their most recent success at Portman Road was back in March 1988, 2-1, again during Duncan’s time as boss.

The teams last met at Portman Road in April 2015 with the Cherries on their way to the Championship title and the Blues the play-offs.

Visitors debutant sub Kenwyne Jones headed an 82nd minute equaliser as the teams drew 1-1 in an exciting top of the table encounter, Freddie Sears having put the Blues in front in the sixth minute.

In the preceding November in Dorset, Teddy Bishop and Daryl Murphy were on target as Town twice came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw.

Yann Kermorgant put the Cherries in front with a spectacular second-minute overhead kick, Bishop equalised with his first senior goal five minutes after the break, Matt Ritchie restored the home side’s lead four minutes later and Murphy levelled in the 76th minute.

The previous season’s matches had also ended in 1-1 - in which future Town striker Brett Pitman scored for the Cherries - and 2-2 draws but with the latter at Portman Road and the former on the south coast.

Familiar Faces

Town left-back Davis was on loan at Dean Court from Leeds in the 2021/22 season, making 10 starts and five sub appearances in all competitions as Bournemouth returned to the top flight after finishing second in the Championship.

Bournemouth U21s coach Alan Connell was an U18s striker with the Blues in the early 2000s, joining the Cherries as a player following his release.

Officials

Sunday’s referee is Michael Salisbury, with his assistants Wade Smith and Scott Ledger, and the fourth official Tom Bramall. The VAR official will be Paul Tierney and his assistant Craig Taylor.

Salisbury, whose father is long-serving EFL referee Graham Salisbury, is in his fourth season as a Premier League referee.

The Preston-based official was slated to take charge of the Blues’ 4-1 defeat at Manchester City in August but pulled out just before kick-off due to injury. He was, however, the VAR official in the Brighton match.

The only Town game he has taken charge of was the famous 3-2 victory over Southampton at Portman Road in April in which he booked Morsy, Chaplin and Jack Taylor, as well as one Saint, and dismissed former Blues loanee James Bree with five minutes remaining for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Squad From

Muric, Walton, Slicker, Davis, Townsend, Johnson, H Clarke, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy (c), Cajuste, Phillips, Luongo, Taylor, Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodics, J Clarke, Broadhead, Burns, Delap, Al-Hamadi.

TWTD

ImAbeliever added 09:40 - Dec 8 I’ll go with Bobble’s predict!
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bobble added 11:17 - Dec 8 I bet if keiran smiled more at press conferences we would win more games..
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