Chelsea beat Bournemouth 1-0 in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Thursday 20 December 2018 07:25, UK
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has insisted that striker Callum Wilson is not for sale in January.
The England international has enjoyed a superb season so far for the Cherries, and has been linked with a move in January.
Chelsea, who beat Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night thanks to Eden Hazard's late strike, are one of the clubs believed to be interested.
But asked if Wilson would be allowed to leave Bournemouth, Howe said: "Not from my perspective, no.
"Callum is our player, he is very focused on us and you could see that from his performance. He gave everything for the team."
It was the second time in consecutive years that Bournemouth had travelled to Stamford Bridge in the last eight of this competition, and Howe was proud with the performance his side put in, despite their late defeat.
"We were nervous at the start but once we settled down we were good value," said the Cherries manager. "It was a discipline, defensive display. We countered and used the ball well and that result could have been very different.
"We believed at 0-0 we could win the match. We had our moments but we couldn't get the goal. We're disappointed we don't have anything to go away with."
Howe also reserved praise for Chelsea's match-winner, who came off the bench to score in the 84th minute.
"He has a habit of scoring against us! He's a quality player and again he made the difference tonight," said Howe. "He has such good feet in tight areas and the ability to swing a game. He's a nice sub from their perspective to bring on.
"They have got quality in every position in their starting XI, let alone the bench. You know you will be tested but you want to go up against the best to judge yourselves."
