TYRONE Mings says “reality will have set in” for Callum Wilson following the Cherries striker's operation a fortnight ago on a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Wilson damaged his left knee during training earlier this month – 16 months after he suffered the same injury to his opposite knee in a match at Stoke City.

The 24-year-old confounded expectations by returning six months after that setback and he had netted six Premier League goals this season before he was cruelly struck down again.

Mings is expecting his “strong” team-mate to return from this blow in similarly rude health.

But the defender, now firmly on the comeback trail following more than a year on the sidelines with his own ACL injury, is keenly aware of the mental battle Wilson must overcome in the meantime.

Mings told the Daily Echo: “It’s never easy to see one of your team-mates go through something like that. I’ve been through it myself so I can empathise with him.

"We have to pull together as a group and help him.

“I think he will have been alright for the first couple of days. But after the operation reality will have set in a little.

“That’s what happened with me. You wake up, see your knee not in great shape and realise what you have to go through to get back to where you were.

“But listen, he’s a strong guy, he’s been through it before, so he knows what to expect. Hopefully that will help him in the initial stages.

“He came back fit and strong before, he was contributing goals earlier in the season – so he can take great heart from how he came back last time and look to do that again.”