Tommy Elphick is out for at least 10 weeks

Bournemouth captain Tommy Elphick has been ruled out of action for at least 10 weeks after undergoing ankle surgery.

Elphick went to Sweden a couple of weeks ago to see a specialist who had previously helped with an ankle problem.

And boss Eddie Howe has confirmed that his skipper has gone under the knife and will be out until around the New Year - though it could potentially be longer.

"Tommy's had an operation on his ankle so he's facing around 10 weeks out," said Howe. "It was innocuous really. It was a kick on the ankle and, despite many attempts to come back, it just didn't feel right.

"With further investigation it was discovered that he needed an operation. He's had it, he's two weeks in. Ten weeks is the estimate (recovery time) but it could be longer than that."

Callum Wilson suffered cruciate ligament injury

Howe also confirmed that striker Callum Wilson has had an operation in his injured knee and begun his rehabilitation.

"[Wilson] is in good form. Callum is a very positive guy," Howe said. "He's got a great mentality when he's playing, or when he's injured. Nothing's really changed so he's now focused on his rehab and coming back stronger than ever.

"I'd say that although he faces a long recovery time, he's in good mental shape. The operation went as well as can be expected. The surgeon was very happy."

Wilson, defender Tyrone Mings and winger Max Gradel are all out of action with anterior cruciate ligament injuries and will miss most of the season.

Howe said: "We had the injuries analysed. The feedback from a number of people is just bad luck. Last season we didn't have any - maybe its payback for that but hopefully we will get no more."