BOSS Andoni Iraola believes it will be “very difficult” for either Lloyd Kelly or Milos Kerkez to return to action before the January winter break.

Cherries host Fulham on Boxing Day (3pm), before trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, prior to a two-week break in fixtures.

And they look set to be without their two chief options at left-back for all three games, with both Kelly and Kerkez ruled out through injury.

Kelly is currently nursing a hamstring issue, while Kerkez suffered an injury in training last week and was pictured in a supportive medical boot on his left foot.

With the pair both absent, as well as Max Aarons and Ryan Fredericks, Dango Ouattara filled in at left-back in the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest, in an unfamiliar role for the winger.

He played 82 minutes, before being substituted with a reshuffle seeing Marcus Tavernier fill that role for the closing stages.

Asked what the timeframe was for injuries to Kelly, Kerkez and Aarons, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “I would like to know also! But I don’t know, I cannot tell you.

“I think, especially in the cases of Milos and Lloyd Kelly, it is very difficult for them to help us before the break.

“I would say a small, small hope with Max Aarons. I don’t know, because we also don’t want to force him.

“We will have to talk and see if he can be available or not.”

Adam Smith required medical treatment late on against Forest, after a clash of heads with home skipper Ryan Yates.

“We didn’t know what to do because we had the option to make a sub if it was a concussion,” explained Iraola.

“I asked the doctor and he said no - he was better than I thought at first.

“I hope it is nothing serious and he can play, also because he is our only full-back right now, so we really need him.

“We’ll see if we can recover someone else, but I think it is going to be really tough.”

Midfielder Lewis Cook is another injury doubt, having come off during the first half of the win at Forest.

“I hope Lew doesn’t have a proper injury,” said Iraola.

“He was weak in the adductor, he was not very comfortable.

“I think, smartly, he decided to ask for the change. I hope he can help us in these next two games that we have this week.”

Discussing further possible changes to his line-up in midweek after the dramatic late win at Forest, Iraola said: “I will have to see. Some of the players finished really tired.

“It was not so physical, but a lot of tension, a lot of players feel sometimes it is worse than running, these different kind of emotions. So we finished quite tired.

“But Justin (Kluivert) didn’t play. For sure he will help us during the week.

“The subs gave us another spark, with Sini (Luis Sinisterra), Brooksy (David Brooks) and Kieff (Kieffer Moore).

“We have options, but we have to see who is available, who is not, who can play 90. Maybe we have to make changes, yes.”

Fulham head to Vitality Stadium one point below Cherries in the table, after a surprise 2-0 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday.

They have recently climbed the standings, with back-to-back 5-0 wins over Nottingham Forest and West Ham United, as well as progressing into the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Looking ahead to the challenge posed by Marco Silva’s Cottagers, Iraola said: “It is a team that is playing amazing.

“Very good positional play, very good at attacking the spaces, very good one against one, very dangerous players.

“I think they are playing really well in the last games I’ve seen.

“They have deserved the points they are getting and even at the beginning of the season, they deserved more points than they got.”