CHERRIES manager Eddie Howe admitted to having had mixed feelings about Tokelo Rantie's international exertions with South Africa.

Howe said Rantie's experience of facing Brazil in a friendly would be “priceless”, but also described his gruelling travelling schedule as “far from ideal”.

Striker Rantie lined up in the first half of Bafana Bafana's 5-0 defeat on Wednesday and spent around 24 hours flying to and from Johannesburg for the clash.

Rantie was due to return to Bournemouth last night before today linking up with the Cherries squad for a flight to the North West ahead of tomorrow's Championship showdown with Blackpool.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “The amount of travelling in the middle of the week was far from ideal in preparation for a game of this importance.

“It is a great experience for him to play for his country, especially when you look at his past two games which were against Spain and Brazil.

"Those experiences will be priceless and something he will remember, probably for his entire career.

“While they are great experiences, there are two sides to it. From our perspective, we want the player in the best physical shape we can get and that won't be the case.”

Howe said he would also assess Ryan Fraser ahead of naming his squad to face Blackpool, the winger having played and scored for Scotland under-21s in their 2-2 draw with Hungary in Dundee on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Aberdonian, who won his third cap for the under-21s, had a much less punishing timetable than Rantie and arrived back in Bournemouth yesterday before spending the day recharging his batteries.

Howe added: “It was great to see him play and score for his country because it will do him the world of good.

"We had someone at the game and were really pleased for him. He is highly thought of by his country and, again, those experiences will be really important in his future development.

"It is just a case of trying to manage Ryan and make sure he is fit enough and fresh enough to play.

“We will take everything into consideration, I think it would be foolish not to. But, ultimately, we will have to speak to the players concerned to see how they feel and then make a decision.

"I will not make any decision on the players until after I have spoken to them so we will wait and see.”