CHERRIES manager Eddie Howe confirmed Tyrone Mings would be likely to face internal action following an alleged breach of club discipline.

Footage of the defender partying in Dublin on Monday night appeared on social media together with pictures of him sporting a Gary Barlow face mask.

Howe admitted Mings’s behaviour had not held the club “in a good light” before adding he needed to “get my facts straight before I act”.

Due to the players having a shorter summer break than normal, Howe has taken the opportunity to give his squad extra days off in each of the past two weeks.

Asked whether he had seen the footage, which is understood to have appeared on Mings’s Instagram account, Howe replied: “I have been made aware of it. I think that would always be dealt with internally.

“Certainly, we wouldn’t expect any of our players to be acting in that way during the season or even the off-season. It doesn’t hold us in a good light.

“We have given the players a couple of days off this week and did it the previous week as well. At this stage of the season, keeping fresh minds and bodies is all important.

“But the players have to be professional in between to make sure they perform for the games so that was a disappointing thing to hear.

“You have to understand you are always representing the football club, whether it is in-season or off-season, wherever you are and what part of the world you are in. Professional footballers know that. It is disappointing because we just want to focus on football and nothing else.”

Some supporters questioned whether Adam Smith enjoying a short break in Dubai was ideal preparation ahead of Cherries’ trip to Leicester on Sunday.

Howe said: “You have to remember the players are free. If I give them a couple of days off to do what they think is right and run their lives with that freedom, I am not going to stand over them and say you can do this or you can’t do that.

“They all have to make their own decisions but they have to be ready to play and perform and that will be the acid test.

“It is a really short break this year and there are five weeks between the last game and when we come back for pre-season.

“I am not so worried physically about that, I am more worried mentally for the players. Due to the pressure and everything that surrounds the Premier League, they need to escape and make sure they come back refreshed and energised.

“We have used the past couple of weeks of the season to help them with that but, as I said, they have to remember that we have a game coming up and have to be ready to play.”

Put to him that Marc Pugh spending some of his downtime visiting a care home would not receive the same publicity, Howe replied: “It never does and also what won’t hit the headlines is that half of the squad have come in and trained as normal with me.

“You have to be very careful. You can sensationalise every move but it is not the actual truth.”