MANAGER Eddie Howe expressed his disbelief after seeing Cherries concede twice during their 2-1 defeat by Everton today.

Goals from Tom Cleverley and Leighton Baines were sandwiched by a Marc Pugh effort as Cherries were beaten at Goodison Park.

Howe said: “I thought it was an even game. I didn’t think there was a lot in it and neither goalkeeper was overworked. We created some great chances towards the end of the game but didn’t take them.

“It was a good battle between two decent teams. Although they are in a difficult run, I don’t think there is any denying their quality, especially being able to bring on a player like Lukuka, who made a difference for them. I still felt we kept those players relatively quiet.

“How we conceded two goals was a difficult one to work out from our perspective because I thought we looked solid defensively and an improvement on recent weeks.

“People have been accusing us of that (being on holiday) for weeks. I can assure them we are training the players as hard as ever.

“We are desperate to win and desperate to succeed as a group. Losing hurts and it doesn’t matter who you play. Our recent fixtures have been very tough but we are determined to try to end the season on a high if we can.”