AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has spoken following today’s 1-0 defeat against Fulham.

Aleksandar Mitrovic's spot-kick was enough to seal the three points for Fulham, as Bournemouth were far from their fluent best in the Premier League.

The Cherries had a number of gilt-edged opportunities, but Ryan Fraser, David Brooks, and Joshua King were not clinical enough in front of goal.

After the match, Howe reflected on the following points…

Opportunities missed

"It was hugely frustrating, especially after last week when 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 and created opportunities. With the amount of presentable chances we created, the fact we didn't score after being so clinical last week is a difficult one to work out."

Defensive injuries

"When you lose a player of Adam Smith's quality before the game it's going to be difficult for the team. Doubly so to lose Junior Stanislas as well. He'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. Upon his injury, we were then left with four centre-backs across our back-line, which is something we would never normally do.

"Those injuries were difficult for us to overcome and we never fully got our rhythm back in the match. We just hope the injuries aren't serious.

"Nathaniel Clyne has been carrying a hamstring injury for a couple of weeks which is why he missed the game."

A stop-start second half

"Fulham managed the game well from their perspective. Being 1-0 down, we wanted a quick game while they wanted a slow game and that led to lots of restarts which was frustrating.

"We have to look at ourselves and we didn't do well enough with the ball. We were too keen to try to get it forward to score. We made some bad decisions when we did get into the final third.

"On another day, we'd have scored three or four goals, so that leaves us hugely annoyed with ourselves. We've scored goals all season so it's not usually an issue for us, but in this game it was.

"It's desperately important that we continue to fight in every game and give our maximum effort."