MANAGER Eddie Howe felt Cherries had contributed to their own downfall as they crashed to a heavy defeat in Huddersfield.

Howe’s men were sentenced to a second heavy defeat on the road this season as the Terriers ran out convincing 5-1 winners at the John Smith’s Stadium yesterday.

A combination of clinical finishing and sloppy defending saw Cherries on the receiving end of another beating following the 6-1 reverse at Watford.

Howe said: “I didn’t think we played too badly but we conceded some poor goals. All the goals were disappointing and I felt we could have done better defensively with them.

“We kept the ball well at times and had some early chances. If we had got the first goal, it might have been different. But we have certainly got to learn defensively. At this level, you get punished for every mistake.

“We were well in the game to start with and I didn’t think either side was dominant. But they carved us open a couple of times and that can’t happen. For the majority of the game and when you analyse who had possession, we had an equal amount but just weren’t as clinical with it.

“I thought both of their strikers worked very hard and caused us problems but all the problems were self-inflicted. We gave away the ball in dangerous areas and, if you do that against good teams, you will get punished and we were.

“But it is a learning experience for a lot of our guys and it will do them the world of good, although it is certainly painful at the moment.”

Howe added: “I am certainly frustrated and, at times, you do have to tell players certain things. But we will respond, as we always do.

“We have won two out of four but have conceded a lot of goals in the two away games which will highlight an issue and a problem but that is something we will have to address.

“We know we have to get better and improve in all areas. I was certainly not surprised by this and knew what we were coming into and how difficult it was going to be. We will stick together and try to achieve our ultimate aim.

“We have got to put it to bed but we have also got to learn from it and that is what we intend to do. There is no panic in our mind. We know where we are and we knew we were up against a good side. They had days like this last season but consolidated in this division. They stayed strong and bounced back.”