BOSS Eddie Howe was torn between contentment and frustration after Cherries had finished empty handed despite their endeavours against Birmingham on Saturday.

Rampant Cherries fashioned no fewer than 24 shots compared with the visitors' tally of four but were sunk by first-half goals from Andy Shinnie and Nikola Zigic.

Howe said: “It was a difficult one to sum up because, overall, I thought we were excellent. We conceded two really poor goals and, with the first one being so early, it was difficult to recover. We were very confident coming into the game and, had it not been for the early goal, I felt we would have won comfortably.

“We did everything but score. We were the dominant team and probably dominated every statistic going except the main one. The number of shots we had showed how dominant we were.

"Although they had something to hold on to, I felt everything would have turned on one goal and was quite confident we would go on to win the game. But it didn't come and that was the frustrating thing.

“I wouldn't change much about the performance because I thought the level was very high. If we were to give that level of performance over 10 games, we would probably win nine of them. We just have to keep sticking to what we do and improve our decision-making in key areas.

“We were disappointed not to score but I thought there were lots of positives. The immediate feeling was one of disappointment but results can cloud everyone's perception of what they see. In the main, I thought the players were very good and couldn't fault any of them.”

Howe named an unchanged starting line-up following Cherries' stunning 2-1 victory at Reading but looked on as they suffered a fifth home defeat of the season.

He added: “We don't want to lose any home games and, to lose five, is disappointing especially when we feel we could have done better in those games and the results probably don't justify how we have played.

“But teams will do their homework, look at how you play and try to find ways to stop you. The pleasing thing was we created lots of chances and I think that bodes well. I was more concerned after the Bolton game when we didn't really create a chance. That was more disturbing for me.

“We went to Reading and QPR and had 16 shots apiece in those games and another 24 against Birmingham. They are great signs for me because, if you are creating chances, you will back the players you have to take them.”