Andoni Iraola press conference: Bournemouth vs Newcastle United

Ryan Christie and Bafode Diakite have recovered from their injuries and should be available: “Ryan is training well without any problems. Bafode is also training well – I wouldn’t say he is 100% but I would expect him to also be available.”

On when full-back Adam Smith should return: “I wouldn’t expect him back before the international break – that’s going to be very difficult. I don’t want to rule him out completely because his recovery might go really well and he might want to play against Fulham.”

On whether he has been enjoying the selection dilemma in midfield or if it has been giving him a bit of a headache: “Enjoy is probably not the right word, but I do have the privilege of choosing between very good players now. When you have two good options, even if you don’t choose the best one you still have a very good option. These are the best headaches to have.”

Newcastle United have a “very similar” playing style to Bournemouth, so he is expecting “a very physically demanding game” and hoping it will be “a good challenge” early in the season.

Iraola added: “The games we have played against them have been quite open. We have our chances and they also have their chances, so you never know what’s going to happen. We enjoy those kind of games, even if the opposition is very good. We have to be ready for everything.”

Eddie Howe has “plenty of squad depth” and made “very early substitutions” against Barcelona on Thursday night, so the Cherries will be prepared to face a side operating at “100 per cent”.

He praised Evanilson for being “a very difficult player to deal with”, having won more penalties [five] than any other player since arriving at Bournemouth: “He’s a threat when he comes to receive, his link-up play is amazing and he’s a threat in behind. We are starting to use him more around the offside line and around the defenders, so I think we’re also finding him in better spots now.”

On whether summer addition Alex Jimenez can expect more minutes soon: “He had a pre-season with AC Milan but he hasn’t had a lot of minutes. He went to Spain with the under-21s and played a game from the start, so he is training well. We used him the other day to close the game out, but until we see him competing at Premier League level we won’t really know where he is at.”