CHERRIES boss Andoni Iraola wished Antoine Semenyo and Dango Ouattara well ahead of their international exploits over the next month.

Both players have been called up for the Africa Cup of Nations, which gets underway this weekend.

Semenyo is part of Chris Hughton’s Ghana squad, while Ouattara is a star name among the Burkina Faso selection.

However, the nation are continuing to hold their breath to see whether Ouattara can feature, having suffered an ankle injury on New Year’s Eve when featuring for Cherries at Tottenham Hotspur.

Ghana begin their group campaign tomorrow evening, taking on Cape Verde, while Burkina Faso, who reached the semi-finals two years ago, open against Mauritania on Tuesday.

Cherries were already without both players for the FA Cup win at Queens Park Rangers last weekend and the pair could miss five more club games, depending how far their nations get.

Discussing Semenyo and Ouattara, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “I am sure they will want to go there, now they are both playing very well.

“They will want to take this momentum and try to play very well for their nations.

“Unluckily for us we lose them for some weeks, but we hope they have very good performances and they also have good results with their teams.”