Cornick ready to show Cherries just what a player he's become since leaving

The 24-year-old joined the Cherries in September 2013 after an impressive spell with non-league Christchurch, but only made one first team appearance in his five years at the Vitality Stadium, that as a late substitute in a 5-1 FA Cup win against Rotherham.

He had loan spells with Welling United, Aldershot Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Yeovil Town, Leyton Orient and Gillingham, before heading to Kenilworth Road in August 2017, where he has played over 100 times since.

Today's FA Cup third round tie will be Cornick's first chance of taking on his old side, and on the chances of doing so, he said: "All my family live down in Bournemouth, my friends live in Bournemouth, so I need quite a few tickets really to get everyone in.

"It's going to be great for everyone to watch me play at Bournemouth and hopefully I can show them what I can do.

"It’s a chance for me to show them, not what they’ve missed out on, but how much I’ve improved since I’ve left there and how much of a player I’ve become.

"Hopefully I can score down there and maybe get a result which will be nice.

“I had one game in five years as I spent most of my time out on loan, but I loved my time down there.

"I have a lot to thank Bournemouth as a club for bringing me through and giving me the chance to show what I can do, as if it weren’t for them, I don’t think I’d be here (Luton) now.

“It’s going to be a good game, it’s where I grew up, it’s my home town, so it’s going to be a nice little homecoming.

"It will be nice for me, but as a team, it’s a good chance to progress in the cup and get our form back on track.

"It’s a good sidetrack from the league and it’s a cup that it’s a great cup for people to win and progress and play against the big teams, so it’s a great competition.”

Although he left the Vitality over two years ago now, Cornick could come up against some familiar faces if he is selected by boss Graeme Jones for the contest which kicks off at 5.31pm this evening.

He said: "There’s a couple down there, (Aaron) Ramsdale in goal, (Jack) Stacey went down there from here and then a few of the young lads might get a sniff, so there’s going to be some good memories for me and some people I haven’t seen for a while.

“It’s a friendly club, it’s quite a family, local club, and it’s a lovely club to play for.

“I think my last game was against Valencia in pre-season for them, it’s always a good atmosphere down there, and a great club, so I’m excited to go back really.

When I was growing up, it was my dream to play for them, it didn’t quite work out, but I'm grateful for the opportunity here and hopefully we can turn them over when we go down there."

After a run of two straight defeats over Christmas, making it 11 losses in 14 games, Cornick believes his team-mates will be happy for some respite from their battle against relegation in the Championship, while completing a cup upset could be used as springboard in their league campaign.

He added: "It’s a good distraction from the league to try and get our form back on track, to try and get a win there and take it into our next league game which is Birmingham."