Boost for Tyler Adams! USMNT captain takes major step forward as he closes in on return from injury nightmare

The United States international midfielder picked up a hamstring injury last March while at Leeds United and then suffered a setback last summer. The former RB Leipzig man, who swapped the Whites for Bournemouth in a £23 million ($29m) transfer, then had another surgery on his hamstring after a recurrence of the issue in his Cherries debut last September. However, he played in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Colchester United's Under-21s for Bournemouth's development squad on Tuesday as he steps up his comeback.

The Bournemouth manager said last month: “Tyler has started training with the group. In the past week, he has started training quite normally. Not everything, but most of the things he does with the group. It is very possible he plays some minutes with the second team, because after almost one year he will need some rhythm.”

Adams has played a paltry 20 minutes of first-team football in nearly a year. He was one of the few Leeds players to come out of their relegation season with any credit but the past 12 months will have been hard for the 25-year-old. However, the fact that he is playing football again is a boost to Bournemouth and the USMNT.

Adams is likely to continue his comeback for Bournemouth's development side in the coming weeks. It remains to be seen if he will feature for the first-team this season but some game time may not be too far away.