A COMBINATION of factors have created a perfect defensive storm around Vitality Stadium.

Foremost among them is the disconcerting regularity with which Cherries have left themselves needing to score four times to win a match.

And if shipping three goals as a custom was not troubling enough, Eddie Howe started 2017 by having star loanee centre back Nathan Ake wrenched from his grasp by parent club Chelsea.

Howe’s admission that Ake’s premature departure could “potentially lead us into a scenario we hadn’t anticipated” is as close as you’ll get to confirmation that the manager is on the lookout for a defender.

So who might fit the bill?

ERIK SVIATCHENKO

A giant of a football club they might be, but Celtic are fast-developing into a fertile production line for Premier League teams.

Imposing centre-half Sviatchenko moved to Parkhead from Midtjylland in his home country of Denmark 12 months ago.

And the 25-year-old has the necessary strength and quality to follow in the footsteps of former Hoops trio Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama and Virgil van Dijk, who have all excelled in England’s top flight after being tempted south of the border.

With Celtic top of the pile in Scotland and Sviatchenko having quickly forged close ties with the club – his girlfriend Anna plays for the Hoops' women’s team, while twin sister Alexandra works for the Celtic Foundation – enticing the five-cap international to Dorset might be a tricky task.

But Cherries’ pulling power cannot be underestimated.

PHIL JAGIELKA

The Everton defender has been consigned to the margins under Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park.

That fact, in itself, might suggest Jagielka is on the wane. Indeed, at 34 he is hardly in the first flush of youth.

Notwithstanding all that, the former Sheffield United man remains good enough to have been named in the past two England squads by Gareth Southgate, whose opinion on defenders carries significant weight given his own stellar playing career as a centre-half.

Jagielka can operate on the left of two centre-backs which, along with his inveterate defensive instincts, could appeal to Howe.

So too the nous that comes with having a decade’s worth of Premier League football under his belt.

ADAM WEBSTER

At the other end of the experience spectrum to Jagielka, Webster has progressed exponentially since he was shifted into the middle of defence by Portsmouth for the 2015-16 campaign.

Formerly used as a full-back by the Fratton Park club, Webster shone last term to the extent that he sealed a summer move to Championship side Ipswich Town.

The 22-year-old has not been fazed by the step up, a string of accomplished displays catching the eye sufficiently that he is already being touted for a transfer away from Portman Road.

Furthermore, Webster is accomplished on the ball – a prerequisite for any player in an Eddie Howe team.

On joining Ipswich he said: “That’s definitely one of my strengths, bringing the ball out from the back and trying to play.

“I’m a defender first and foremost, though, and I’d like to think a pretty good defender as well.”

ARMANDO IZZO

Cherries have already been credited with having a strong interest in one Italian defender, Sampdoria’s Pedro Pereira.

On the other side of the Genoese divide, however, another homegrown player’s reputation is escalating by the week.

Armando Izzo’s consistently imperious form at the heart of Genoa’s rearguard earned him a maiden call-up to Italy’s national squad in November.

Some pretty powerful European clubs are reported to be hovering over the 24-year-old, a rugged performer of stereotypical Italian defensive stock.

Howe's confessed reluctance to enter the foreign market would make Izzo an unlikely target, but he is one who could be worth a punt.

JOE GOMEZ

Another right-footer happy to play on the left, Gomez could be poised for a temporary spell away from Liverpool after 15 injury-blighted months.

The teenage defender's recent inactivity, allied to his tender years, do not add up to the obvious solution for a Cherries team crying out for extra ballast.

Nevertheless, Gomez looked as if to the manner born when he was thrown straight into the Reds' side last season following one year of Championship football with Charlton.