Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is confident his players will stay focused during what is expected to be an emotional occasion when they face Luton at the Vitality Stadium again.
Wednesday night’s Premier League game is the rearranged fixture from December 16, which was abandoned when Hatters captain Tom Lockyer collapsed on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest during the second half.
Lockyer – who was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator after he was hospitalised for five days – is set to travel with the Luton squad to the Vitality Stadium.
The 29-year-old Welshman – who had also suffered a collapse during the 2023 Championship play-off final at Wembley – is set to be meeting some of the people whose swift actions that afternoon helped save his life.
Iraola is happy to see Lockyer making a recovery and feels when the game kicks off, everyone will have their mind on producing the required performance.
“I have been a player and when the referee whistles at the start of the game, you focus because you have difficult things to do,” Iraola told a press conference.
“You think about the football stuff and the opponent you have, also what you can do whenever you receive the next ball.
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“I think the players will be focussed on the football side because they are used to it.”
Iraola has no doubts Lockyer will receive a warm welcome at the Vitality Stadium.
“Since the first seconds (after) it happened, everyone was very clear that the most important thing that mattered was for him to recover,” the Cherries boss said.
“The most important thing is he is much better. He has recovered well and I am happy to know that he is doing well.
“It will be amazing if he comes and we can see him. I am happy to know he is doing well.”
Bournemouth fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Sheffield United on Saturday with a stoppage-time equaliser from Enes Unal.
Iraola is expecting just as stern a test against the Hatters, who could lift themselves out of the relegation zone if they win on Wednesday night.
“Luton and almost all of the teams, we are in a battle. All of the teams need the points and it’s important,” he said.
“The later you play, the more important the points are because you don’t have so many chances after.
“They are a team that have changed a little bit since the last time we played them here, they are much more aggressive in the press and are keeping more possession.
“They are playing more from the back, they have very good midfielders and then they have a lot of pace.
“We have to prepare for a very different game than the one we played the other day against Sheffield United.”
Dominic Solanke had not trained fully in the run-up to the Sheffield United game as he managed a knee issue, but completed 90 minutes so should feature again.
“He has not been affected by the injury, performance wise,” said Iraola, who remains without defender Marcos Senesi because of a thigh problem.
“He finished better in the game than the previous one against Burnley.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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