CAPTAIN courageous Shaun Cooper has told boss Eddie Howe he will continue to play through the pain barrier and lend his support to Cherries’ survival mission.

Cooper has been troubled by a persistent groin injury in recent weeks and has been told he will eventually require surgery to cure the problem.

But Howe is hoping his influential skipper can delay going under the knife until the end of the season and will be fit enough to lead Cherries during their run-in.

Cooper was forced off by the injury during the closing stages of Cherries’ 1-0 defeat at Chesterfield and missed the trips to Dagenham and Redbridge and Gillingham.

But the versatile 25-year-old made a surprise return to the starting line-up for Cherries’ 2-0 victory over Aldershot in midweek.

Cooper is again rated as a doubt for Cherries’ League Two showdown with Port Vale at Dean Court tomorrow (3pm kick-off).

Howe told the Daily Echo: “He is struggling with a hernia, which will eventually need operating on, but we are trying to get him through until the end of the season.

“He is putting his body on the line to help us try to stay up. That isn’t easy as a player when you are not feeling 100 per cent but you wouldn’t know it from his performances.

“Some days he is more sore than others and I go by what he tells me.

“At the moment, he can play through it and, until such time as he tells me differently, he will keep plugging on.”

Brett Pitman (groin), Steve Fletcher (knee) and Mark Molesley (hamstring) are all rated by Howe as “very doubtful” for the visit of the Valiants, while Joe Partington, Scott Guyett and Josh McQuoid are added to the Cherries squad.

Cherries: (from) Jalal, Cooper, Garry, Pearce, Cummings, Robinson, Hollands, Molesley, Pitman, Fletcher, Connell, Bartley, Goulding, Bradbury, Feeney, Partington, Guyett, McQuoid, Tindall, Pryce.

Port Vale: (from) Anyon, Griffith, Owen, McCombe, Collins, Brown, Ahmed, Howland, Dodds, Gall, Richards, Lawrie, Glover, Prosser, Taylor, Stockley, Edwards, Martin.