Following our 1-1 draw away to Bournemouth, Eddie Howe has praised our ability to maintain our unbeaten run and battle on despite several injuries, but was ‘disappointed’ with our lack of clear-cut chances and lack of quality in the final third.
In what was our fifth draw in the last six games, the Magpies once again struggled to break down a low block and often looked out of ideas in the final third.
The 45-year-old criticised the number of clear-cut chances we created as well as the poor quality of ‘that final pass action’
But Howe is remaining positive a head of a big few weeks, adding that there were some ‘really good moments’ in the game and that it was a ‘point gained’ after Tottenham fell to a 4-1 defeat at Leicester.
The biggest worry for us is now injuries after Willock, Saint-Maximin and Almiron were all substituted – on top of Wilson missing with a hamstring scare – but hopefully we have them back for a huge game against Liverpool next week, or the cup final in two weeks time.
Here’s what Howe had to say on the performance:
“It was a tough game. Very competitive between two good teams. Bournemouth have a lot of energy and athleticism and I thought we dealt with them pretty well apart from the goal and a couple of other scary moments for us.
“We had a lot of the ball. I am a bit disappointed in the final third not as many clear-cut chances as we would like and a lot of half moments where we could have done better but I think it was a fair result.”
“There were some really good moments but that final pass or action where you need the quality and coolness of our brains to be working and they weren’t quite there apart from the goal which was a really good finish.
“There was a little bit of a reshuffle with injuries to a few key players but that is something you have to live with over a Premier League campaign. I think we have done well to navigate another tough away game and the unbeaten run goes on. It is a point gained and there should be a lot of positivity.”
