Howe admits Cherries’ surprise defeat against Fulham “difficult to work out”

Written by Dan Davis (@dan_davis20)

AFC Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe labelled his side’s 1-0 defeat against Championship-bound Fulham “difficult to work out”.

Despite creating a flurry of openings throughout, Cherries’ wastefulness in front of goal was punished by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s second-half penalty following Jack Simpson’s poorly-timed tackle on 53 minutes.

Fulham’s victory was the Londoners’ first away triumph of the season, whilst the hosts extended their winless run at Vitality Stadium to four.

Howe, who marked his 500th game in management against Scott Parker’s outfit, later made clear his disbelief that his side had failed to find the back of the net.

He said: “Yeah, (it’s) hugely frustrating, especially after the back of last week where we were so good. We started the first half really well, and I thought it was going to be a really good day for us.

“We were sharp with the ball, we created opportunities, and I think that’s the thing we have to look at today; the amount of presentable opportunities we had and the fact we didn’t score after being so clinical last week. It’s a difficult one to work out.”

The defeat was further compounded by a rut of injuries for the home side, with both Adam Smith and Junior Stanislas having to be withdrawn from the clash through injury.

Howe added: “I think naturally when you lose a player of Adam’s quality before the game, that was difficult for the team. It was then doubly difficult to lose Junior (Stanislas) as well.

“Junior’s not necessarily a natural right-back, but he’s played the position and done it very well. He uses the ball superbly and has the athletic ability to go box to box.

“And then upon that injury, we were left with four centre-halves across our back line, which is something we would never normally line up with. So that was a difficult one for us to overcome, and we never fully got our rhythm back in the match. And we just hope the injuries aren’t serious.”