EDDIE Howe admitted he would be powerless to prevent Cherries becoming "really stretched" – should further injuries strike.

Cherries host Championship Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup tomorrow (7.45pm) with Howe hoping his injury problems will not be worsened by the events of the fourth-round tie.

The boss is keen to share game time around but has limited options in defence in particular, given Tyrone Mings, Brad Smith and Rhoys Wiggins are sidelined.

Striker Jermain Defoe is also out and a late call will be made on fellow frontman Joshua King, who missed the Premier League win at Stoke City due to illness.

Cherries take on Antonio Conte's Chelsea in the top flight on Saturday and Howe is keeping his fingers crossed that any players who play three fixtures in eight days will steer clear of injury problems.

Speaking ahead of Cherries' bid to reach the quarter-final for the second time in club history, Howe told the Daily Echo: "I wouldn't have a problem with any player playing that amount of games.

"I think it would happen in the Premier League where we have the odd midweek game scheduled. I wouldn't hesitate then so why would I hesitate now?

"The problem for us becomes if any of those players then get injured themselves, we would be really stretched but there is nothing I can do about that.

"I have to play with the numbers I have. Further injuries we could get would be a real problem.

"I want to play a strong enough team to win the game and that's why I say we pick a team which is strong enough to do that.

"Sometimes, you are wrong. As we found last year, we were not strong enough to win certain games so it's getting that balance right. We want to progress in the competition."

Mings is sidelined by a nagging back problem while Smith sustained a hip complaint while on international duty with Australia earlier this month.

Smith was forced off minutes into the Socceroos' World Cup qualifying play-off against Syria.

And Howe said the lengthy trip to Sydney undergone by the former Liverpool man had "potentially" contributed to the problem.

Howe added: "By doing the maths, we don't have an abundance of options in defence.

"The injuries to Brad and Tyrone are really disappointing because they are players who are developing their respective careers really well.

"Brad was improving all the time through the training but the international stuff is difficult for him because of the amount of travelling he has to do to hook up with Australia.

"I think that potentially played a part in his injury so that was a real body blow for him.

"Tyrone had an excellent pre-season and deserved his place in the team in the early stages of the season, and then the back injury put paid to the rapid progress he was making."