Howe explains what went wrong at Brighton, issues clear message & addresses midfield concerns

Eddie Howe believes our failure to take early chances and conceding a cheap first half goal cost us dearly at Brighton, feeling Ferguson’s opener ‘dented our confidence.’

He accepts, however, that the performance wasn’t good enough, but has asked for calm as he looks to find solutions over the upcoming international break.

The boss also discussed our midfield trio, after concerns were raised about the lack of balance and cohesion between Tonali, Bruno and Joelinton at the Amex. In response, he insisted that they are forming new partnerships which will ‘take time’ to blossom, insisting our new-look midfield is ‘in it’s infancy.’

Here’s what he’s had to say, starting with his initial thoughts on the game itself:

“Tough result for us. Could have been very different and in the early stages of the game we had some good chances. We didn’t take them and the goals we conceded especially the first were tough.”

“I would probably say the first goal is key in any game. It dented our confidence, especially after last week. Not just the goal the manner of the goal was messy from our perspective.

“From then on the game was probably not the game we wanted it to be, the second goal. It came when we were fighting to get back into the game, the subs came on and made a difference and then out of nothing they score again.”

Howe then discussed our losing streak, accepting ‘concerns’ but staying calm as we head into the break:

“I am very realistic. Of course, there are concerns when you are not winning and have lost three in a row. I am not naive to that. You have factors and reasons, the fixture list was very tough for us.

“My job is to be calm and analyse where we can better then go to work on where we can get better.”

Howe then touched on our midfield trio of Tonali, Bruno and Joelinton, defending their lacklustre display at the Amex:

“I think it’s in its infancy, that has to be noted. I don’t think that’s necessarily a criticism of any one of those players but it’s a new-look midfield and that takes time to build the relationships.”