ANDONI Iraola says the first couple of weeks will be the toughest for Alex Scott, as the midfielder embarks on another injury recovery.

The midfielder had only recently returned from injury when he suffered an issue in his opposite knee.

Scott had impressed in his first four outings for Cherries, before being forced off at Manchester City.

He is now unlikely to return until the new year, as he recovers from his medial collateral ligament injury.

Iraola previously admitted the latest setback had been hard mentally for Scott to process.

Asked if he can use any reference from injury absences in his own playing career to help the 20-year-old, Cherries’ head coach told the Daily Echo: “I was lucky during my career, I didn’t have these kind of injuries fortunately.

“But I think there is a moment probably the first two or three weeks that he cannot almost do anything.

“They are the worst moments, because you are just waiting until you get better and you cannot really do a lot. Probably that is when the players suffer more.

“Then from there, they start working a little bit in the gym, they go outside, they start touching the ball and then you are seeing I can play this game or the other game.

“Probably these first two or three weeks will be hard, but it is something we cannot change.”