ALEX Scott will be a ‘big loss’ for the Cherries as he faces a spell out on the sidelines following an operation to repair a tear in his meniscus.

Scott played more than 60 minutes in AFC Bournemouth’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend but felt some pain in his knee after training in the week.

After an MRI scan, a tear was discovered and an operation was done to repair the meniscus, which means Scott will be out for more than six weeks.

Andoni Iraola said the injury setback for Scott is ‘not easy for him’.

“He's still very young, but I think it's the third time. He already arrived with some issues in the knee.

“He had the MCL past season also. And it's the third time now that he has to stop in a moment where I think he had played all the games and he was doing well.

“But he also has the experience before that he has gone through this process that is not always easy and he has to come back even stronger.

“He has come back and he has been good.

“So, he has to do it again.

“This is the mentality, try to recover well, to do everything he can do to be in the same place or even better.

“And I'm sure he's going to do it.”

Iraola said the absence of Scott will be a big loss for his side.

“It's a big loss because he gives us this quality on the ball, to carry the ball by himself, to feel safe when he has it, to give some breath to the teammates.

“And also defensively, I think he's improving a lot.

“He's playing as a number eight, defending sometimes low and having no issue there in the Premier League.

“So, it's obviously bad news for us.”