EDDIE Howe believes Cherries’ Premier League fortunes will rest with him trying to rediscover an identity and balance with different personnel.

Boss Howe acknowledges the task could be his “biggest challenge” which comes on the back of two heavy defeats and a crippling injury crisis.

Cherries’ maiden season in the top flight has been disfigured by the loss of key players Callum Wilson, Harry Arter, Tommy Elphick and Max Gradel.

And back-to-back 5-1 defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Tottenham have done little to ease supporters’ concerns that the club’s stay could be short lived.

Asked by the Daily Echo for his assessment of the season, Howe said: “It is a tough division and we were well aware of what we were going into.

“The euphoria at the end of last season was well justified but, on the back of that, came an incredible challenge and one that will probably be the hardest of my management time here – to try to build a team that can be competitive at this level.

“The injuries have really rocked us. We have lost a bit of our identity and losing key personnel has changed a lot about the side and that is not ideal for us.

“It has been difficult at times to try to find the right balance as we look to take the team forward. My biggest challenge now is to try to rediscover the balance with different personnel.”

Cherries took time to adjust following promotion to the Championship and were 19th, having gleaned just seven points from 11 games, at the start of December 2013.

Howe added: “People can have very short memories in terms of those moments because everyone thinks we have just run through the leagues with no issues at all.

“Anyone who has been here every week certainly knows the reality is totally different. You have good and bad spells.

“The most important thing we have always shown is we have stuck together as a football club and the supporters are key to that. I thought they were magnificent for us against Spurs. It must have been very difficult for them seeing their team beaten convincingly on their own patch and yet they still clapped us off. If we are to have any chance of achieving our goal this season we are going to need that to remain.”

Put to him that there had been no hint of the supporters turning on the team during the Spurs game, Howe replied: “I would have been disappointed if that had been the case when you consider we have come from a different place compared with a lot of Premier League clubs.

“We have never been here before in our lives and are now playing the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham on an even footing. You can see how good these teams are and it is up to us to try to bridge that gap but it is certainly going to be very difficult.”