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Howe on positives, first half performance and Smith's return

Cherries boss Eddie Howe has shared his thoughts following his side's 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park.

Goals from Kurt Zouma and Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed the three points for the hosts, who move up to tenth. 

Following the game, manager Howe reflected on the below points... 

The performance 

It's a difficult one to take and one that is similar to our recent run. Personally, I'm really pleased with our performance.

We started strongly, created chances, defended well and then we switched off for a second and got punished. The game is then more difficult. We penned them in but couldn't get that goal. 

Decisions 

At the time, I thought the first penalty shout on Brooks probably was a penalty. I haven't seen it back, so I may be wrong. At the end, I've then been told there was a stonewall, but that's the way things are going for us at the moment. 

In terms of Andre Gomes, certainly from my view, I thought the first one could've been a yellow, as well as the second. If you add them together, he is lucky to stay on the pitch. I haven't seen back the one at the end, though. 

The team 

We saw a really committed team performance today and both individually and collectively we were very good. I think we have to take a lot of confidence from the performance, not the result. If we play like that again, we can take confidence the points will come. 

I thought Adam Smith performed well today. He's been doing a lot of fitness and running and I think that showed today. He didn't look rusty and performed strongly.