CHERRIES are looking to bounce back from two poor results against Preston and Peterborough – but who should take to the field against Derby at the weekend?

A total of 32 different players have lined-up for Cherries this season, highlighting just how difficult it can be to predict a starting XI.

Let us start with the players who definitely will not be involved. There is promising progress being made by Robbie Brady and Junior Stanislas, but they are still some way off a return to first-team action.

Kieffer Moore is another that won’t be in the picture come Saturday, but Scott Parker indicated that his side had come through the encounter with Peterborough unscathed.

On the suspension front it is one in and one out, with the return of Jefferson Lerma met by the absence of Philip Billing. The Danish international will miss two matches after picking up his 10th booking of the campaign, allowing Parker to sidestep the dilemma of dropping Lewis Cook from the holding midfield role.

Speaking of banned players, Adam Smith will serve the second of a three-game suspension against Reading.

Jack Stacey was replaced for Jaidon Anthony as Cherries chased a win against Peterborough on Tuesday, but it still appears Ethan Laird is still lacking match-fitness. As such, we believe Stacey will remain at right-back for the visit of Reading.

Whilst he admitted Lloyd Kelly’s passing left a lot to be desired, Parker labelled his captain’s defensive performance against Peterborough as “immense”.

Nat Phillips has fared well since arriving on loan from Liverpool, and it appears he and Kelly are slowly forming a partnership at the back.

Gary Cahill appears to be back to full health, but we can’t see Parker chopping and changing too much at the back.

Leif Davis is back on the fringes of Parker’s plans, and whilst Jordan Zemura has looked slightly off the boil, we’re predicting Parker to stick with the Zimbabwean.

That’s because we’re also estimating that the head coach will bring Anthony back into the left-wing spot.

The pair get the best out of each other, so we believe they will start on the left-flank.

Todd Cantwell is another January signing that has been parachuted into an out-of-form side, but his overall play justifies his continued spell as a starter.

Dominic Solanke is a near permanent fixture of the side thanks to both his goal contributions and the fact that the only other fit senior striker, Jamal Lowe, is mainly utilised as a winger by Parker.

Lowe’s scoring streak of three goals in three games ended on Tuesday after his substitute appearance failed to yield a winner against Posh. We think he’ll be start on the bench again, with Ryan Christie again named as the right-winger.

Bournemouth Echo: Our predicted XIOur predicted XI

But that’s just our predictions – who do you think will start? On top of that, who would you like to start?