Bournemouth boss Marco Rose in no rush over Kroupi's return from injury

Bournemouth boss Marco Rose has said that Junior Kroupi must reach full match fitness before he can return to the starting line-up, adding that the club will not rush the youngster's comeback.

Kroupi underwent surgery on a foot injury sustained during pre-season and was forced to miss the first three months of the campaign. The 20-year-old French forward enjoyed a superb breakthrough season with the Cherries last term, scoring 13 goals in 35 appearances in all competitions and playing a major part in Bournemouth securing European qualification for the first time in the club's history.

With 13 goals, Kroupi also broke the record for the most goals scored by a teenager in his debut Premier League season, surpassing the 12-goal tallies of Robbie Fowler in 1993-94 and Robbie Keane in 1999-00. His performances attracted interest from giants such as Arsenal, Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona over the summer, but his untimely injury put paid to any prospect of a move.

Now over his injury, the young forward has gradually begun to work his way back into the side, coming off the bench in Bournemouth's 3-0 win over Manchester United and in the EFL Cup victory over Aston Villa.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's match against Leeds United, Rose said:

"We need to increase his time on the pitch step by step. I am very happy that he is back and with his quality, but he knows himself that he has to be patient so that we do not end up in a difficult situation with another injury. We have to bring him to his best physical level through good training sessions and gradually increasing minutes in matches."

Bournemouth are also without midfielder Alex Scott, who suffered a thigh injury while on England duty, although Scott is expected to return to action shortly. Despite the absence of Kroupi and Scott, Bournemouth have hit form, winning their last five matches in all competitions without conceding a goal.

Rose also discussed his side's upturn in form, saying: "Even in pre-season I felt we were on the right track. Our first games were good, but we failed to take some chances and conceded easy goals through individual errors, so we did not get the results we wanted. Recently, matches have been going our way, but that is entirely the product of hard work and we have to keep up this intensity."