Eddie Howe Hails Bournemouth's Mental Strength But Insists His Side Must Improve

Eddie Howe has credited the strength of his players to respond positively after going 2-0 down against Everton, but has insisted that his players must improve in the future.

The dull first half was brought to life when Everton's Richarlison clashed with Bournemouth's Adam Smith, which saw the Brazilian sent off after a perceived headbutt. Everton quickly took the lead through Theo Walcott, before Smith was then sent off after tripping Walcott on the edge of the penalty area.

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Everton doubled their lead before Bournemouth staged another fantastic comeback, reminiscent of their 3-3 encounter of two seasons ago. Goals from Joshua King and Nathan Ake brought the score level with ten minutes left to play, before the game was interrupted as a result of a terrifying head injury to Michael Keane.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe summarised the performance of his team to Sky Sports after the game, saying: "It was a game where I don't think we played particularly well today, but we dug out another really important result, especially with the circumstances of going 2-0 down with an extra man and losing that advantage. 

"I really do credit the players mentally for coming through that."

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Howe insisted he did not see the clash between Smith and Richarlison, stating: "No view at all, I just heard the crowd reaction, so i'm sure i'll see it later. 

"Obviously it had a bearing on the game, but not in our favour. Unfortunately for us, we didn't press home that advantage, and it actually probably hindered us."

When asked about his team's tendency to go behind in matches, Howe responded: "It's certainly not our intent, and it's certainly something we've got to solve, in the sense of going behind and giving the initiative to the other team, because against the top teams there's no way back, so certainly something we're going to have to improve. 

"But we've done it again, we have got something out of the game, which was really important, especially from 2-0 down at home. Today was a game that we really were looking forward to, so seven out of nine (points), it's been a good start."

The Cherries won't have long to recuperate, as they host MK Dons on Tuesday for the second round of the FL Cup.