CHERRIES’ loan frontman Christian Atsu has rejoined Eddie Howe’s squad after recovering from a stress fracture to his shin.

Atsu, who has been plagued by injury since signing for Cherries at the start of the season, returned to parent club Chelsea for treatment.

The 23-year-old missed a couple of weeks after hurting his back during pre-season before sustaining his shin injury while on international duty with Ghana in September.

Atsu, who has been restricted to just two League Cup appearances, will be monitored in training and could be in contention to return in early January.

Cherries assistant boss Jason Tindall told the Daily Echo: “Chris has been out for some time so we are building him up slowly and managing him so he doesn’t break down again.

“When a player has been out for a number of weeks, they need a good few training sessions under their belt to make sure there is no recurrence of the injury or no further damage.

“They need to get that sharpness and fitness back which they are going to need to perform in games.

“We are at the stage with Chris where he has only trained for a couple of days since he has been back.

“He will be assessed week by week and, hopefully, we will have him back available for selection in the next three weeks or so, providing everything goes to plan.”

Marc Pugh and Lee Tomlin also returned to training this week having recovered from their respective injuries.

Meanwhile, Cherries won the LG performance-of-the-week award for their stunning 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

It was decided by the League Managers’ Association and the panel comprised LMA chairman Howard Wilkinson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Joe Royle, Dave Bassett and Barry Fry.

Cherries boss Howe will receive a specially-commissioned trophy to commemorate the award.