Eddie Howe admits Bournemouth were below par in home defeat by Burnley: 'It's a tough one to take'

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Birthday boy Eddie Howe expressed sympathy for Bournemouth's supporters after their disappointing 2-1 home defeat by Burnley.

Cherries manager Howe turned 40 on Wednesday but he and the home crowd had little to cheer at the Vitality Stadium as they were convincingly beaten by his former club.

Goals either side of half-time from Clarets duo Chris Wood and Robbie Brady put the high-flying visitors on course for a deserved success, before Josh King halved the deficit with 11 minutes remaining.

Eddie Howe admitted Bournemouth were below-par in their home defeat by Burnley

Howe, who left the Cherries for Burnley in January 2011 before returning to Dorset in October of the following year, said: 'It's a tough one to take in terms of our performance tonight, very disappointed with how we played, I don't think we really truly got going at any stage in the game.

'Burnley did very well, credit to them, I thought they were excellent tonight, nullified our threat so I have to give them a lot of credit.

'But we were below-par with the ball, very disappointing technically.

New Zealand striker Chris Wood gave the visitors a first-half lead at the Vitality Stadium

Robbie Brady doubled Burnley's lead as they moved above Tottenham into the top six

'We had a plan but we didn't deliver it.

'I feel for the fans tonight because we didn't give them anything to get behind.'

Wood's first-half tap-in and Brady's superb curling effort 25 minutes from time earned Burnley a fourth Premier League away victory of the campaign to take them above Tottenham and into sixth place in the table.