MANAGER Eddie Howe revealed Joshua King’s ankle problem is not as bad as first feared – and he will make a late call on the striker for tomorrow’s trip to Wolves (6pm).

Norwegian frontman King hobbled off after a crunching challenge by Gary Cahill in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, with Howe admitting post-match it had been a “huge concern”.

But after having a scan, the 28-year-old was only left with a minor sprain.

Asked for an update on King at this morning’s press conference, the manager said: “We will wait and see.

“We feared at the start when he went down with the ankle, I’ll be honest, that potentially his season could be over because he signalled straight away that he would have to come off.

“It looked a nasty injury but the scans showed it was a very minor sprain to one of his ligaments, so we will make a late call on Josh to see whether he is available for this match.”

Defender Cahill was left without punishment for the challenge following a VAR review.

Quizzed on whether he thought the tackle warranted a card, Howe said: “As a former defender, to be honest, I thought he got the ball first.

“I wouldn’t be wanting a red card if that’s one of my players.

“Unfortunately, he caught Josh and we missed him for the rest of that game but I didn’t see too much wrong.”