AFC BOURNEMOUTH boss Andoni Iraola believed Milos Kerkez played a “hell of a game” in his side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
Kerkez played the full 90 minutes on the south coast as Cherries were pegged back twice by the Red Devils.
Despite enjoying the lion’s share of the chances, Bournemouth were left to rue decisions over two penalties that went against them, as well some wayward finishing.
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Hungarian international Kerkez finished the game as a left-winger, being pushed forward after Luis Sinisterra was forced off with injury.
Speaking about the Hungarian, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “Milos has, I think, played a hell of a game.
“He has been really good defensively.
“He has been really good going forward.
“He has played more forward and I think these kind of games where he finds more spaces, he can make his runs, carry the ball, find it two against one outside.
“I think it suits him very well.
“Probably there are other games where probably we are more solid with Lloyd Kelly, but it's a good problem for me because both are very good solutions.”
Nine of the starting XI that faced Manchester United at Old Trafford began the reverse fixture at Vitality Stadium, with Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo missing the game due to injury.
That meant a return to the side for Kerkez, who has played second fiddle to Lloyd Kelly since the latter’s return from injury.
Asked if he had tried to keep the team as close as possible to the side that beat Manchester United 3-0 in December, Iraola responded: “It was pretty similar.
“They changed also a couple of players and you have to adapt to the individual things from the players.
“But it was mainly there to be quite brave to make the game quite open and trust our players to win their duels and take advantage of the transitions they you could.
“I'm really happy, but not completely happy because at the end we only finish with one point. And when you have this kind of chances, we should take them.”
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