AFC Bournemouth defender Chris Mepham has issued words of encouragement to team-mate Dominic Solanke.

The Bournemouth Echo write that Solanke is yet to score for the Cherries since joining on a permanent deal from Liverpool in January.

The 21-year-old, who was previously at Chelsea, has made three Premier League appearances since his £17.5m after arriving with a minor injury problem.

The Englishman came close to scoring in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers but was denied by Rui Patricio.

Julian Finney/Getty Images Sport

Mepham also moved to the South Coast last month, joining from Championship outfit Brentford for £12m.

The pair have a long-term affiliation from their youth, as both were part of the academy system at Chelsea.

The Welsh international has described it as a ‘matter of time’ before Solanke opens his Cherries account, having watched the work he puts in in training.

He said:

I know Dom from our younger days and he was always a big talent who has gone on to get some sort of minutes at big teams. He has joined Bournemouth and it takes everyone a bit of time to get used to a new team. In training, he has shown a lot of glimpses and in the game against Wolves, there were a couple of times where you thought: ‘there’s a real talent there’. I think it will only be a matter of time before that comes out more often and, hopefully, he can replicate what he’s doing in training.

Mepham was speaking after last night’s disappointing 5-1 defeat to Arsenal, with Lys Mousset scoring the Cherries’ consolation goal.

Will Solanke score against Manchester City on Saturday?

Yes

No