CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe welcomed Elliott Ward’s return to fitness and admitted the defender’s experience of a Championship promotion campaign “could prove vital”.

Ward had been sidelined by a knee injury for five months prior to taking his place on the bench as an unused substitute for Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa.

The 30-year-old first hurt his knee during Cherries’ clash with Leicester in February last year before suffering a recurrence following the trip to Ipswich on Easter Monday.

Ward had an operation at the start of May and went under the knife for second time in August after feeling discomfort in the joint during Cherries’ League Cup opener at Exeter.

However, following outings for the development side earlier this month, Ward was deemed fit enough for the first-team fray.

The return of the centre-half, who played alongside Andrew Surman as part of the Norwich side that earned promotion to the Premier League in 2010-11, pleased Howe.

He told the Daily Echo: “It’s a big boost for me and the squad to have a player of Elliott’s experience and quality back within the ranks.

“He’s trained well and has had some good games for the reserves so we are delighted to welcome him back.

“He would have been ready to play if we had needed him. With Baily Cargill injured (thigh), that was a big boost for us because we were light in numbers in the centre-half positions.

“It’s great to have a member of the squad back who is so experienced and has been in the position we’re in before. His experience could prove vital for us.”

Midfielder Dan Gosling was due to have an ankle scan yesterday and Howe hoped that a Marc Pugh foot injury was no worse than a bruise.

Surman took his place on the bench against Villa despite a dead leg and should be fully fit in time for Friday’s Championship showdown with Watford at Dean Court.

Goalkeeper Lee Camp made his return to the starting line-up following a calf problem and earned praise from Howe.

Howe added: “Lee Camp didn’t have much chance on either goal and he made a great save on the counter-attack with near enough the last kick of the game.

“Campy and Artur Boruc have had slight injury niggles in the past couple of weeks so it’s good to see them both performing so well.”