TYRONE Mings has sent a defiant message that he will not be beaten by the massive injury that has wrecked his first season in the Premier League with Bournemouth.

The former Yate Town defender is facing surgery to correct the problems which saw him suffering major ligament damage on his Premier League debut for Bournemouth against Leicester City last week.

Mings, who revived his career at Yate after leaving Southampton Academy as a 16-year-old when it was wound up, was bought by the Cherries for £8 million from Ipswich Town during the summer transfer window.

But after coming on for left-back Max Gradel against the Foxes, Mings lasted just six minutes before he suffered horrendous medial cruciate ligament and anterior cruciate ligament damage in the 1-1 draw.

The defiant defender, though, tweeted: “Very tough pill to swallow ... But I've been through tougher, it's only a knee at the end of the day. I'll be back.”

Those tougher days included fearing his chances of playing the game as a professional, like his father Adie, were over when, as a 16-year-old, funding for the Southampton FC Academy he was part of was cut and he was left looking to somehow revive his career.

That is when he went to Yate Town and played a few games for them before going to Chippenham. Later, he was snapped-up by Ipswich Town and enjoyed a phenomenal rise with the Championship club, winning the Player of the Month award for September 2014.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has already conceded that 22-year-old Mings, who was a transfer target for Chelsea and Arsenal last season, would be out for the rest of the current campaign.