Howe’s side went ahead twice through Callum Wilson and Joshua King and hit the woodwork on three occasions as Jack Wilshere was denied by the post twice, and Junior Stanislas rattled the bar with a late free-kick.
Those chances left the manager feeling as though his side should have won the game in what was an end-to-end fixture against Walter Mazzarri’s men.
"It was really tight game," he said.
"It became an end-to-end encounter with both teams really going for the win.
"The goals we conceded were disappointing but I feel we deserved to nick it due to the quality of our chances. We hit the woodwork three times and we could do better in those situations, but it’s pleasing that we scored two and looked threatening.
"That’s probably the most pleasing thing for us to leave with today, we had a real cutting edge and creativity within the side, that bodes well for the future."
Second after Howe brought on King in the second half, the Norwegian netted his second Premier League goal of the season.
The manager refuses to take the credit for the change and hailed the frontman’s performance after entering the fray.
"I’m not thinking I’ve made a great change, it’s all about the team," Howe continued.
"It was a change we needed to go, Josh was outstanding. He’s a big player for us and did very well, the team grew stronger and were in the ascendancy towards the end.
"Josh took his goal well and we’ve got plenty of players with confidence at the moment."
Recap on how the game unfolded at Vicarage Road with the on the whistle match report here.
