Bournemouth defender Simon Francis says it is important to try and kick on regardless of which players have been struck down by injury.

The Cherries had already lost promising defender Tyrone Mings and talented winger Max Gradel to serious knee injuries before star striker Callum Wilson went down against Stoke City on the weekend.

With Wilson, who has already scored five goals this season, set to join the pair on the sidelines for some time, Francis could sit and make excuses about the situation the Dorset club find themselves in but he feels the need to come together and get past the disappointment of losing key teammates.

"It is sad news. It has been incredible really, the injuries. I have never seen anything like it, never been at a club where lads suffer similar injuries," he told Sky Sports.

"Even the game against Leicester, we had three players go off.

"Charlie [Daniels] went off, with his knee, which was not as bad as the others, then Mingsy came on for his Premier League debut - five or six minutes later, he is off. Max Gradel went off as well, so it is something I have never seen before.

"For 'Wils' to go down on Saturday is a huge blow for us. I think it might have affected us mentally in the first half, because we took our time to get going in that game.

"We were standing around for nearly 10 minutes while he was getting sorted and it had an effect on us - we bounced back in the second half.

"There is no doubt now we have to rally around the lads. We have got a small squad, smaller with the injuries, but we can't dwell on it for too long, because this is the Premier League.

"We need to get results and get them fairly fast."