‘Cruel’ February has stopped Bournemouth in their tracks

At the end of January, Bournemouth were blazing a trail through the stratosphere, seemingly on an unstoppable, rocket-propelled journey to dreamland – an unfathomable place in the Champions League.

By the end of February, the Cherries have woken up with a jolt, with their more pessimistic followers wondering if they were only ever crawling along towards mid-table on a rail replacement bus service.

As ever, the truth most likely lies somewhere between those two viewpoints.

Having sailed through January with four wins and a draw, collecting the Premier League’s manager, player and goal of the month awards on the way, February has been crueller.

Aside from making FA Cup progress against Everton, and slaying an already-doomed Southampton, defeats by Liverpool, Wolves and Brighton have dropped the Cherries from fifth to seventh, with the prospect of losing further ground on the top five on Wednesday.

Of more immediate concern is that despite having welcomed some players back from injury, Andoni Iraola’s side are now stretched in a couple of positions, with Illia Zabarnyi sitting out two more games through suspension and Ryan Christie – himself still one caution away from a two-match ban – limping off at Brighton on Tuesday with a groin problem.

So, Saturday’s return visit by Wolves in the FA Cup is an opportunity for Iraola to make some changes. The same goes for the visitors, whose priorities surely lie with increasing the gap between themselves and the bottom three.

But make no mistake, Bournemouth are still in a position for which most fans would have bitten off their own hands, let alone anyone else’s, to be in after 27 league games.

Justin Kluivert, in netting another contender for his personal goal of the season competition on Tuesday, also broke new ground in becoming the first Cherries player to score 10 away goals in a Premier League season.

He told BBC Radio Solent that Bournemouth “played a good game, especially in the second half where we created a lot of chances, but we’ve got to be more dangerous in those areas”.

Another view was given by former Tottenham and Nottingham Forest midfielder Andy Reid on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“This is just a little blip for Bournemouth,” the ex-Republic of Ireland international said.

“They are a good side and will bounce back. They went on an incredible run before these recent games, [so] were bound to hit a bump.”

Will Reid be proved right – can Iraola’s men reset their upward course? It should be an interesting watch, either way.