Bournemouth's Wilson back in training after knee injury

ENGLAND : (Reuters) - Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson has started training with the first team again after a serious knee injury but will need time to regain match fitness, manager Eddie Howe has said.

Wilson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in February. It was a second setback for the 25-year-old who suffered the same injury to his right knee 15 months earlier.

Limited to 33 Premier League appearances over two seasons, Wilson has not been given a specific recovery timeline but Howe said the player was in a good frame of mind.

“Even when he is training, we will need to give him all the time he needs ... he needs several games before he finds his rhythm and confidence and we consider him for selection,” Howe told the Daily Echo.

”He looks like he is running a lot more smoothly. He is mechanically very good, so I‘m really pleased with him and for him. Psychologically, I think he is in a really good place.

”The problem for Callum is that as soon as you are back on a football pitch, you are judged by everybody – me, the supporters, the media – and that can be difficult, especially when you have been out for the period he has.

“With players who have been out a long time, it does take them a while to find peak form... that’s only natural.”

Bournemouth, second from bottom in the Premier League with three points from six games, host Leicester City on Saturday.