CHERRIES coach Stephen Purches admitted he would have to wait until the 11th hour to select a team for today's Central League clash at Cheltenham (1pm).

A number of Cherries youngsters are out on loan, while others, including striker Sam Surridge, are training with Eddie Howe's first-team squad.

The contest in Gloucestershire will nevertheless provide valuable game-time for a batch of players who have been lightly run in recent weeks.

Joe Quigley is expected to feature against the Robins, with the striker stepping up his comeback from a serious knee injury in advance of resuming his loan spell with League One Gillingham.

Purches told the Daily Echo last night: "We are at that stage of the season where quite a few of the lads are training with the first team and we won’t really know who we have available until the day of a game.

"Hopefully, Joe Quigley will have some time on the pitch to make sure he’s progressing nicely and to enable him to get himself ready to go to Gillingham.

"And a few of the other lads who have had knocks, like Ollie Harfield and Matt Worthington, will hopefully get some time on the pitch."

Purches had to field an especially raw line-up at Swindon a fortnight ago and saw his side beaten 6-1. That was a second defeat on the bounce for the under-21s, following a run of 11 matches without defeat.

"Sometimes within a defeat you can learn a lot about players," added Purches.

"Everyone loves winning, as long as you are winning the right way and getting the right outcomes. It is a nice habit to have and the boys want to win every game they go into.

"But you’re looking at which individuals come through that (the Swindon result), whether it affects them, or if they can learn from what happened and then go again.

"We will look at what we have available for the game at Cheltenham and hopefully whoever plays will give a good account of themselves."