MANAGER Eddie Howe insisted Joshua King had made good progress on recovering from a hamstring strain but added: “We have tried to take our time with him.”

The frontman has been unavailable for Cherries since picking up the problem while on international duty with Norway last month.

King has missed Cherries’ past three games and is set to miss today’s home battle with Liverpool (3pm).

Asked for an update on the 27-year-old’s progress, Howe told the Daily Echo: “It’s been good, it’s been pretty plain sailing.

“There have been no setbacks, no worries, no feeling from him in his hamstring.

“But they are notorious injuries in that you can feel brilliant all the way up to the last little bit when you have to fully sprint and then you get another problem.

"That is why we have tried to take our time with him, to make sure that there is no such occurrence.”

Meanwhile, the boss said defender Lloyd Kelly’s thigh problem continued to be assessed, adding Andrew Surman and Junior Stanislas were not fully fit having returned to training.