BOSS Eddie Howe described as “dangerous and reckless” the challenge made by Youri Tielemans on Callum Wilson at Leicester.

With Cherries trailing 2-1 after 54 minutes at King Power Stadium, the Belgian midfielder appeared to lunge in on the ankle of the frontman with his studs up.

Wilson went down writhing in pain near the halfway line in front of Howe’s technical area.

But after referee Peter Bankes consulted with VAR Martin Atkinson, the challenge remained unpunished.

Giving his take on the incident following the 3-1 loss, Howe said: “I haven’t seen it again on replay but I was close to see it live.

“It looked over the top, he missed the ball and it looked dangerous for Callum. Certainly, from my view that was a dangerous and reckless challenge.

“I really don’t know what VAR is thinking in terms of why they haven’t acted on it but obviously they will have a reason for it.”

He added: “I don’t think there was intent from the player to do that but it’s happened.

“It’s not the reason why we lost today, we have to be clear on that, but it potentially may have changed the game at that stage.”

Wilson had levelled the contest after 15 minutes having cancelled out Jamie Vardy’s 12th-minute strike.

Tielemans had made it 2-1 before the break and – after making the challenge on Wilson – he set up Vardy to kill off the game 15 minutes from time.

Wilson’s afternoon was made even more frustrating when he was booked by man-in-the-middle Bankes for diving, after going down under the challenge of defender Caglar Soyuncu.

Giving his take on the incident, Howe added: “I felt when Callum went down it must have been a penalty. He is not someone that dives, he never has since I’ve worked with him.

“The fact he went down, for me, it was a penalty as soon as I saw it. I’d need to speak to Callum and check that was the case but I back the player’s integrity.”