EDDIE Howe backed Artur Boruc to respond to his Tottenham torment in positive fashion and admitted Cherries needed to find a quick cure for their defensive frailties.

Boruc was left wishing he could have turned back the clock as Cherries were condemned to a second successive 5-1 defeat by Spurs at the Vitality Stadium yesterday.

The goalkeeper, who had sat out Cherries’ reverse at Manchester City after suffering an injury in the warm-up, was restored to the starting line-up at the expense of Adam Federici.

But he was at fault for two of the visitors’ goals and also conceded a penalty as England striker Harry Kane cashed in to net a hat-trick after Cherries had taken the lead.

Kane sent Boruc the wrong way from the spot after the Pole’s rash challenge on the frontman had allowed Spurs to cancel out Matt Ritchie’s finely-taken opener just 49 seconds in.

Mousa Dembele profited from a fortunate ricochet to fire Spurs in front before Boruc spilled a Kane cross at the feet of Erik Lamela who prodded home from close range.

Kane added his second and Spurs’ fourth after the break before Boruc scooped a header from Toby Alderweireld straight into the path of the striker who completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute.

Howe said: “There is certainly going to be no finger-pointing or blame attached to anybody or any one individual. It’s very important through success and failure that you take collective responsibility.

“There is a need moving forward that we can’t keep giving away goals and it has been our Achilles heel all season. Even in games we have won and drawn, we have managed to find a way to give a team a goal.

“It’s frustrating on everyone’s part because, in the main, I thought we were competitive until the ball came into our box.

“Artur is very strong mentally and is resolute when it comes to goalkeeping errors. He has seen it, been there and done it so I won’t have a problem lifting him.

“There is a need for the team to eradicate these errors and we need to make sure our goalkeepers rediscover their form because they are so important in every game in your ability to keep clean sheets which is something we need to focus on.

“Artur has been excellent since he has been here and he played a huge part in our promotion. It is part of a goalkeeper’s job. They are going to make mistakes and errors. We just need to make sure he responds in the right way.”

Boruc, who also pulled off a couple of excellent saves during the clash, faced the music when he conducted a brief post-match interview.

He said: “We just need to get back to the training ground and work hard.”

Put to him that most people would have said at least three of the goals had been down to him, Boruc replied: “Well, if somebody says that, that’s probably how it is. At the end of the day, I need to go back to the training ground and try to improve myself.”

And asked by the Daily Echo whether his injury had affected his performance, he replied: “That’s got nothing to do with it.”