Ben Pearson starts: The predicted AFC Bournemouth XI to play Nottingham Forest on Friday night | OneFootball

Bournemouth will be hoping to bolster their automatic promotion push when they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Vitality Stadium tomorrow evening.

The Cherries, who are the current occupiers of second place in the Championship standings, have won their last three games to bridge a four point gap from Blackburn Rovers in third position.

Scott Parker’s side emerged as one of the busier EFL teams during January, with Deadline Day proving to be a hectic one down on the south coast, with the Cherries welcoming Nat Phillips, Todd Cantwell, Kieffer Moore, Freddie Woodman and Siriki Dembele to the squad.

Pushing for promotion themselves, Forest have proven to be a top Championship side under Steve Cooper this season.

Quiz: Can you name which club AFC Bournemouth signed these 25 non-British players from?

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The Reds were in the relegation zone when Cooper was appointed, but since then, he has converted the Midlands club into a side who will be viewing the play-offs as a minimum objective.

Ahead of tomorrow’s clash, here, we take a look at how the hosts might line up for the visit of Forest…

Facing fresh competition as a result of the arrival of Woodman, Mark Travers will be fighting to retain the number one shirt, with his display against Blackpool deserving of another start.

Returning to training this week, Ethan Laird will be pushing for a start, with the young right-back set to battle it out with Jack Stacey.

It is unknown how long Gary Cahill will be missing for, so if he is set to miss tomorrow’s clash, then Nat Phillips and Lloyd Kelly could operate as a defensive duo.

Jordan Zemura is the likely candidate at left-back and the young defender will be hoping to recapture his early-season form.

Lewis Cook has shown class from a slightly deeper midfield role, but this could be the perfect game for the tenacious and intelligent Ben Pearson.

Slightly ahead of the former Preston North End midfielder, Philip Billing and Todd Cantwell could start, with the pair possessing attacking quality and can be a class above.

Siriki Dembele was excellent against the Seasiders and could see another start from the left flank, whilst Jaidon Anthony could be shifted over to the right.