CHERRIES will be "monitoring" both Adam Smith and Philip Billing "for the next couple of weeks" as they look to prevent any possible spread of COVID-19 around the club.

Smith and Billing were both left out of the matchday squad for Cherries' 4-2 victory over Reading on Saturday.

Team-mate Joshua King returned from international duty with Norway last week and initially tested negative for coronavirus, only to then test positive two days later. As a result he is now self-isolating for 10 days, as per government guidelines.

Cherries carried out 59 other COVID-19 tests on players and staff members on Thursday, which all returned negative results.

However, given the proximity Smith and Billing had been in to King last week, boss Jason Tindall took the decision to send them both home.

"They were around Josh in between his negative test and his positive test so I just made the decision myself," Tindall told the Daily Echo.

"I felt it was best they stayed away for the next few days and we’ll assess them in a few days’ time to see how they are.

"It’s just a matter of monitoring them now for the next couple of weeks.

"It was only a precautionary thing, but I felt it was the best decision to not involve them (on Saturday), although I could’ve done.

"But seeing as they were around Josh in between his negative test and his positive test, I felt that was the best decision."

Cherries are set to host Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, before a trip to Rotherham United next weekend.