Eddie Howe has shared his thoughts following this evening’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Willian opened the scoring in the first half, before Dan Gosling looked to have taken the game to extra-time, only for Alvaro Morata to slot home with moments remaining.
Nevertheless, the boss admitted his delight at the performance and the confidence that can now be taken going forward.
In his post-match press conferences, he discussed the following points…
On the defeat…
It feels heart-breaking to be honest and the players gave everything. We didn’t get the best start and they scored a good goal from their perspective.
In the second half, we had waves of attack and we scored, but the last part of the game is bitterly disappointing. I think we’re experienced enough to know, but it’s just one of those things.
The most positive thing is that our players continued to be dominate the ball.
On injuries…
Jermain [Defoe] looks like he’s got some damage to his ankle ligaments, it was a nasty tackle. I haven’t seen it back, but I didn’t think it was a red card and my gut was that it was a yellow. However, we lost Jermain and that’s going to be a big blow.
Harry [Arter] then felt his calf in the second half and we also have a number of players at home with knocks and injuries.
On the last week…
It’s been a bizarre week. The Untied game was similar to tonight, we took the game to them and played well, whilst Liverpool was the total opposite.
We come here and I can’t credit the players enough for their mentally. It’s not easy when you’re not winning games regularly, but we leave with a positive mindset.
On the squad…
I think our squad is very well balanced and the players that came in impressed. We know the players that we can rely on and tonight’s performance will lift them and it will lift us.
Jordon [Ibe] played more centrally today. It was a bit of a risk as he hasn’t done that much for us, but he showed his ability to find space and cause problems, with his pace a real threat.
Wee Man [Ryan Fraser] also tells me that he started as a left-back so I don’t think it was too different for it. His attitude about it was first class and he was outstanding tonight.
