Following our 2-0 defeat against Liverpool, Eddie Howe has praised our performance in the face of adversity and given his reaction to Nick Pope’s ‘harsh’ red card.
The boss was clearly devastated to lose Pope in our first defeat since August, but kept a positive outlook on the performance after we gave as good as we got despite being a man down against last year’s runners up.
Howe felt we showed ‘real quality’ at times, only Liverpool were able to take their chances, with Wilson and Almiron having efforts saved by Alisson either side of Saint-Maximin and Burn hitting the woodwork.
Ahead of the final, Karl Darlow will not be recalled from his loan at Hull and Martin Dubravka is cup tied, meaning Howe must decide between Mark Gillespie or Loris Karius; who he insists are in great shape physically and training very well.
Here’s what he had to say after the game on the performance, Pope and his headache heading into next weekend’s game:
“I thought it was actually a good performance in the main. I thought they were clinical with their chances when they came.
“There was real quality, we opened Liverpool up at times, and created some real chances. That’s the difference, they took their chances – and we didn’t take ours.
“Obviously Nick Pope’s sending off changed the game. For me, it was a harsh reaction, but I understand if it’s in the rules. It’s harsh for Nick, because he’s been magnificent for us, and to miss the next game is a huge blow for him.
“We have Karius and Gillespie who have both trained very well. They are both in great physical condition & ready to play.”
