Bournemouth are eyeing European football for the first time ever in their history, and after doing the double over Arsenal midfielder Alex Scott says anything is possible
Bournemouth fans have been singing and dreaming about Europe for most of the season. Andoni Iraola’s side have been one of the best stories of the Premier League and now, with three games left, they have the chance to make the dream a reality.
Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is one of the players at the heart of the push for a European place as they have got Aston Villa, Manchester City and Leicester in their run-in. The Bournemouth dressing room is excited about the prospect and Scott says watching other Premier League clubs in Europe has only made them more determined to get there.
It looks a tall order but Scott insists the players believe they can do it – and it was actually always part of the plan from when the England under-21 midfielder first joined two years ago.
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Scott, 21, said: “When I signed for the club, that was the direction they wanted to go in and that’s the target. When the owner came in, that was the plan to take that up and cement ourselves in the top half of the Premier League, pushing for Europe.
“If we could achieve that in a second season of being here then that would be brilliant for the club, all the players as well and give us something to really look forward to. It’s been really good watching the teams like Arsenal, Villa and teams like that who have done brilliant in Europe this year and obviously Manchester United and Tottenham in their competition.
“It gives us a taste for it but also a lot of confidence that we would be able to compete with other teams around Europe. That’s what we’re definitely looking to do.
“It’s definitely on our minds. At times, we’ve killed ourselves a little bit by dropping points when we should have won and taken all three. But that game at Arsenal has definitely given us more belief for the last little push we need.
“It’s exciting. As a squad and as a group, we’ve really kicked on this year and if we can top it off with qualifying for Europe lift would be massive for the club.
“Everyone has put in so much hard work and it’s exactly what we’re aiming for and we’ve got a great chance to do it now.”
First up is Villa at home on Saturday and then Manchester City at the Etihad. But they have already taken a point at Villa and beaten City at home. After completing the double over Arsenal last week, Scott insists they believe they can do it.
“It gives us confidence, we got a point at Villa, beat City at home and did the double over Arsenal which is a first for us and so we know we can match and mix it with the big teams in the Premier League,” said Scott.
“The confidence is definitely high going into the last three games and we believe in ourselves and we believe as a squad that we can get it done and qualify for Europe. Three games to go now, Man City coming up and also Villa on Saturday so it won’t be easy but we are looking forward to it and we’ve got some form from the Arsenal game going into the last three.”
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Scott has started five of Bournemouth’s last six games, is in great form after coming back from his first ever surgery – to repair a meniscus injury – and came on with Antoine Semenyo at Arsenal last Saturday to inspire the comeback from 1-0 down to a 2-1 victory.
Bournemouth boss Iraola has pulled off some huge results this season and the club are on the up with the players determined to finish on a high. Scott is enjoying his own best run of form, showing great maturity and also developing his game. He also has big England ambitions and wants to be part of the under-21s squad for the European Championships this summer.
Scott added: “The manager has improved so many of our players, the points total has gone up, you are seeing improvements every year. The way we play, the high press and the way we are on the pitch.
“The quality of players we’ve got now, we’ve almost cemented ourselves as a top half Premier league team and for a club like Bournemouth, it’s not always been like that because we were in the Championship three or four years ago.
“It’s massive for the club, the owner has come in with great ambition and built a new training ground, there’s plans to expand the stadium and so everything is going in the right direction for the club.
“Then it’s down to us as players to play the best football on the pitch to make it exciting for the fans to watch and I feel we’ve done that this season.”
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