CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe has revealed skipper Tommy Elphick is "a matter of weeks away" from full fitness.

The influential centre-half chipped a bone in his ankle at West Ham in August and having made further appearances against Leicester and Norwich, went under the knife in October.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Tommy is making good progress. He has been training for 10 days but it has been small steps.

“He is a matter of weeks away. When you have had an operation, you have to make sure you really feel right before you get pushed."

Winger Matt Ritchie, who sustained a dead leg against West Ham on Tuesday, is rated 50-50 by Howe to feature in tomorrow's Premier League clash with Norwich at Vitality Stadium (3pm).

Meanwhile, boss Howe has stressed that Joshua King will not be rushed back following the signings of fellow strikers Benik Afobe and Lewis Grabban.

King has struggled with a hamstring problem of late.

Howe added: “The beauty of the signings we’ve made enables us to get Joshua back fit and right rather than pushing him through necessity, which I felt we were doing around the Christmas period just because we had a lack of options.

“Hopefully, Joshua will be back in the not too distant future and 100 per cent right."