It was 7.30am on Thursday morning when Dan Gosling and his Bournemouth teammates became aware of the tragedy which had befell Harry Arter and his partner.
Not long previous, Arter and his partner had lost their child at birth.
Despite the loss, Arter still played in Bournemouth's 2-1 win against Man Utd on Saturday, putting in a Man of the Match performance.
Arter felt playing would help ease his pain and that his family would want him to do so.
Speaking to the Bournemouth Daily Echo, Gosling told of his admiration for Arter.
But he still came in, trained and showed great professionalism. He has been a great credit to himself and his family – to put on such a great performance said it all about the type of character he is.
I think it was right he got taken off when he did. Understandably, his emotions were coming to the surface but after 80 fantastic minutes in which he made some very important tackles in the box, I hope he gets plenty of plaudits for the way he played. He certainly deserves it.
Gosling also revealed that Arter received a standing ovation from teammates after the game.
We had a little prayer before the game. Andy [the club chaplain] came in to do it and we were all together afterwards as well.
After Junior's first goal, we all went over to H and it was very emotional. When he came back in, he got a standing ovation because to play in the manner he did under those circumstances was a great testament to him and his family.
We hope he and his partner can move on from this tragedy and one thing they can count on is that we will be there to support them every step of the way.
