CHERRIES manager Eddie Howe believes Ryan Fraser’s fitness levels have been affected since he suffered a hamstring injury.

Flying winger Fraser was forced to withdraw from the Scotland under-21 squad after feeling discomfort during a training session while on international duty last month.

And although the 19-year-old returned to feature for Cherries in their Championship clashes with Leicester and Bolton, he was substituted in both games.

Fraser, one of Cherries’ leading lights this season, was a late omission ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Burnley after failing to recover from a knee injury.

As a result, Cherries’ £400,000 signing from Aberdeen was again pulled out of the Scotland squad for their European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Georgia tonight.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Ryan had a spell on the sidelines and I think it affected him slightly in terms of fitness levels.

“He is the type of player who needs to be really fit and really sharp because his game is all about explosive pace.

“If you take away 10 per cent of his fitness, I don’t think you get the same player so we have been trying to build him back up to where he was before the injury.”

Scotland under-21 coach Billy Stark, who replaced Fraser with Kilmarnock’s Chris Johnston, said: “Unfortunately, we have lost Ryan again, which has been something that has happened fairly consistently.

“It is just one of those things. He was with us the last time and tweaked his hamstring and we had to send him back. This time, it is a knee injury and it is just unfortunate.”