Bournemouth weren´t at their best – Howe

Eddie Howe admitted AFC Bournemouth weren’t their “free-flowing selves” after Crystal Palace held them to a 0-0 draw at Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries were seeking a fourth consecutive Premier League win against Alan Pardew’s in-form side, but found their chances restricted in a Boxing Day clash played in blustery conditions.

Only Arsenal have a better away record than Palace in the Premier League, and Howe was happy with the point, despite not seeing his side play to their full capability.

“We’ll take the point,” he said. “I don’t think you’re ever satisfied, because we wanted three but we recognise that they are a very good side.

“We were all thinking after 60 or 70 minutes ‘Let’s go for the three points’, and we tried to make some positive changes, but in the end in the last 20 minutes we were probably under the cosh a little bit so I think a point is a fair result.

“We had the best chances of the game in my opinion, and they are the frustrating ones. There were clear moments in the game when we perhaps could have done better, and in the end that’s defining.

“I thought the back four did very well and our goalkeeper was good. The only criticism would be that we weren’t our free-flowing selves with the ball, but they made it very difficult for us to build momentum within the game.”

Bournemouth were without Josh King due to a hamstring injury and Howe paid tribute to his replacement in attack, former Palace striker Glenn Murray.

Howe explained: “I think it does change the dynamic. Every individual player is slightly different, but I thought Glenn put a real shift in.

“He probably had our best two chances today. He’s a player who always seems to get on the end of things.

“I don’t think they created too much, but we had a number of good openings.”

He added: “After the run we’ve been on when we have been scoring goals, it’s disappointing that we haven’t.

“You have to respect the point, and that could be crucial at the end of the season.”