Bournemouth's Ibe "fine" after knifepoint robbery
LONDON (Reuters) - Bournemouth winger Jordan Ibe has suffered no ill-effects from being robbed of an expensive watch at knifepoint recently, according to manager Eddie Howe.
"It was an unsavoury, unfortunate incident but Jordan is fine," Howe told a news conference on Friday ahead of Sunday's Premier League game away to Arsenal.
"Security is strong here and there is plenty of advice available for players, but it is difficult once they are out of our control and they will be easy targets, especially given the cars they drive," Howe added.
"How do you protect them?"
West Ham United striker Andy Carroll was involved in what appeared to be an attempted robbery while driving home from training this month.
Ibe is available for Sunday's game but midfielder Jack Wilshere, on loan from Arsenal, cannot play against his parent club.
"Jack will be a big miss for us," Howe said.
"He's got better and better each week and been excellent, both with and without the ball."
Bournemouth are in the top half of the table after winning 1-0 at Stoke last weekend.
First-choice goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who missed that game, will have a late fitness test to determine whether he can return.
(Reporting by Steve Tongue, editing by Ed Osmond)