Eddie Howe has shared his thoughts following a dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle at Vitality Stadium this afternoon.

The Cherries found themselves 2-0 down at half-time, thanks to two Dwight Gayle strikes, but a second-half comeback saw both Adam Smith and Dan Gosling get on the scoresheet to ensure the points were shared. 

And after the game, Bournemouth manager Howe reflected on the following points... 

The performance

I think my heart this season is being tested, despite my age. Today was tough because we weren't very good for 70 minutes, but i have to praise the character and attitude of the team.

You need everyone to be focused not feel sorry for themselves and credit to players for that so well. 

Being 2-0 down

For the first ten minutes, it looked like we were going to produce a good performance. The goals were the turning points and we didn't recover from conceding first goal.

We made it difficult to crate momentum from there. It was then a difficult atmosphere at half-time with the second goal. But, we didn't go under and came back very well. 

The comeback 

I always believed that we were good enough despite the situation. The lack of opportunities meant that it was always going to be difficult to find two goals.

We had to find a way to open them up. We changed the system, the substitutions made a difference, and we were able to turn the screw and penned them in their half. 

The substitutions 

I was really pleased with the impact they all had. It shows the quality that we have. Adam [Smith] is an outstanding full-back, he gave us energy and enthusiasm.

Jermain [Defoe] and Lys [Mousset] gave us different attacking options. Jermain had a shot early on and I thought Lys was a real handful for them. We looked a different team for the last 20 minutes.   

The result 

It's encouraging that we didn't get beaten by a team in and around us. At the end it was a massive 20 minutes for us, so I'm really pleased that we got something out of it.