CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe wants his players to use as a motivation the “heartbreaking end” to their incident-packed 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Chris Maguire’s last-gasp penalty saw the Owls snatch a share of the spoils at Dean Court and prevented Cherries from returning to the top of the Championship.

Howe’s team had fought back after conceding Kieran Lee’s firsthalf opener and goals from Yann Kermorgant and Matt Ritchie had looked destined to restore them to the summit.

But having been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Simon Francis for two yellow cards with the score at 1-1, Cherries were sucker-punched by Maguire’s dramatic late spot-kick.

The Owls man beat Artur Boruc from 12 yards after Cherries substitute Adam Smith had been judged to have brought down Atdhe Nuhiu deep into stoppage time.

Howe said: “It really was tough to take and that is the reason we all love the game so much. There was drama and so many twists and turns, even in one game. I thought it was fascinating.

“We were disappointed with how we played in the first half. We were a little flat but responded well in the second and showed terrific character. Even when we were a man down, I thought we were the better team and it was a heartbreaking end to the game.

“Hopefully, we can transfer the pain and frustration that we feel into motivation for our next game. Although we have had the most successful season in the club’s history, we have had many moments when we have felt low and down and have had to respond to adversity.

"This is another of those moments where we have to show our strength of character and see the bigger picture. We have two games to go and our objective is very clear.”

Cherries, who had been replaced at the top by Middlesbrough following their 1-0 win at Norwich on Friday, saw Watford move into pole position after their 1-0 victory over Birmingham with Howe’s team trailing the Hornets by a solitary point.

Howe added: “Although we might feel low and down now, we have to use it as our motivation to move forward.

"We have felt the same way before this season but have always responded and come back a better team. I believe those incidences have helped us in tight games recently and we have learned.”