Eddie Howe praised the resilience of Callum Wilson after the injury-plagued striker hit a fine hat-trick in 10-man Bournemouth’s crushing win against Huddersfield.
Wilson was sidelined for nine months by serious knee ligament damage suffered in January, having recovered from a similar problem sustained in September 2015. He put Bournemouth on course for victory with a quickfire double at the Vitality Stadium before completing his treble late on following the sending-off of the home captain, Simon Francis, and a strike from Harry Arter. The goals were Wilson’s first in the Premier League since the second knee operation and his second top-flight treble after his hat-trick in a 4-3 victory at West Ham a month before the first injury.
Howe said: “I’ve been there myself in the respect you get a serious injury, it’s a lonely place, it’s a hard place to come back from. Especially when you consider for Callum he’d just scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, in his first taste of the Premier League. It looked like he had the world at his feet and it changed in an instant. Through that period he always maintained his enthusiasm, his positivity, he’s always a good person to engage with and see. And he’s worked incredibly hard on his body to make sure he comes back in the shape that he has, so full credit to him. The quality of his finishes for the goals was really, really high so it’s been a really good night for him.”
Huddersfield’s David Wagner criticised the officials and felt they made mistakes that turned the game in Bournemouth’s favour. The Terriers had been the better team in the opening stages but they fell behind when Wilson headed home Jordon Ibe’s corner moments after a strong challenge by Charlie Daniels on Florent Hadergjonaj went unpunished by the referee, Lee Probert. Wilson was then possibly marginally offside for Bournemouth’s second.
“When we speak about a 2-0 half-time result against us, [it is] after two referee’s decisions which are not correct,” Wagner said. “For the first corner, it was a clear harsh tackle. It was maybe more than a yellow card in this moment and we concede a corner where they scored the first one and before the second goal it was a yard offside after a free-kick, so this is the referee’s job to see this. This wasn’t difficult to see because it was a set play.
“Unfortunately, from my point of view, it wasn’t correct and this is what we have to accept. These two goals changed the game completely and then in the second half we have not created enough.”
Wilson had the final say when he drilled in his third goal six minutes from time after Josh King’s pull-back.
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