Eddie Howe Slams Defending After Conceding Early in Both Halves Against Brighton

Eddie Howe praised the character of his team to come from behind twice to earn a point at Brighton, but bemoaned the lack of defensive structure which led to conceding the two goals. 

The Cherries conceded both times in the opening five minutes of each half, starting poorly and magnifying the task ahead of them considerably from the first whistle. 

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Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Howe said: "It's frustrating for us that we gave them goals at the start of both halves but the lads showed great fighting spirit to come back."

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"The timing and the manner we conceded was disappointing. We had to work so hard, and it's been a feature of our recent games."

Bournemouth have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last ten matches in all competitions, with their last shut-out a goalless draw at Swansea in late November. They have had little trouble scoring goals, however, fielding more attacking lineups with the return from injury of talisman Callum Wilson.

Howe alluded to this, remarking: "It's good to see us scoring again, but we needed to defend better to win."

The point moved Bournemouth up one place to 13th, three points clear of the relegation zone.