Eddie Howe seemed baffled. When he was asked about Jack Wilshere's omission from the England squad to face Germany and Lithuania, the Bournemouth manager said: "Am I surprised? Yes because of the quality of the player Jack is."
Howe's confusion would be a little easier to take at face value if Wilshere had been in the Bournemouth team recently. Instead, the Arsenal loanee was on the bench for their trip to Old Trafford at the start of March and after that creditable 1-1 draw, that was where he stayed for the next two games. Bournemouth won both of those, 3-2 against West Ham and 2-0 against Swansea.