MANAGER Lee Bradbury accused Cherries of being “immature” after admitting it had been “men against boys” during a torrid start at Hillsborough.

Cherries paid a heavy price for conceding three times in the opening 10 minutes as Sheffield Wednesday secured a 3-0 victory on Saturday.

An own goal from Miles Addison was sandwiched between efforts from Danny Batth and Michail Antonio as the promotion-chasing Owls condemned Cherries to a fifth successive League One defeat.

Bradbury told the media: “The disappointment in the first 15 minutes was huge for us. I wanted the team to go out and start well and we did not.

“Finding ourselves 3-0 down after 15 minutes was hard to take and it gave us a mountain to climb.

“But after that, I thought we did very well, passed the ball well and created some good chances – probably the better chances in the game. But both boxes cost us.”

Asked what he had said at half-time, Bradbury replied: “First of all, I told them a few home truths about the first 15 minutes.

“If you look at it, five of our players that played had never played in a stadium like they did today.

“It is a learning curve for them. We are a new team, put together throughout the season, and a lot of the players we have taken have come from lower leagues, and they have got to learn quickly.

“We will be a good side, given time. We pass the ball well and I think we play some good football and create good chances.

“We just need to have that belief that we are going to score goals and we need to keep clean sheets. I think it will turn – we just need a bit of luck.”

Wes Thomas hit the woodwork and went close on two other occasions as Cherries improved following Wednesday’s impressive start.

But Bradbury’s men never fully recovered from a game-defining opening period in front of a large and hostile home crowd.

Bradbury said: “As a team, I thought we were immature for the first 15 minutes.

“We didn’t stand up and be counted for the first 15 minutes and that is a massive part of it when you come to a big club like Sheffield Wednesday, with the crowd behind them and the big occasion.

“If you want to play at Championship level or higher, you need to be able to deal with that and I did not think we did for the first 10 or 15 minutes.”

Bradbury added: “It was men against boys for the first 15 minutes. I thought we froze a little bit on the occasion – some of our players.”

Meanwhile, Bradbury revealed Harry Arter had been left out of the Cherries squad due to a gluteal injury.