EDDIE Howe insisted Cherries would continue to play on the front foot at home but acknowledged they had struggled to “get the balance right” since stepping into the Premier League.

Boss Howe was speaking after Cherries had suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of champions Chelsea on Saturday – their third successive reverse in front of the Vitality Stadium faithful.

Cherries paid dearly for squandering a series of presentable first-half chances as Eden Hazard’s double and goals from Pedro and Willian saw the Londoners give the hosts a lesson in finishing.

Although Tommy Elphick gave Cherries a glimmer of hope when he netted his first Premier League goal to make it 2-1 after 36 minutes, late efforts from Willian and Hazard sealed victory for the visitors.

Cherries registered 24 home wins in two seasons in the Championship and lost just three times at Dean Court on their way to lifting the title last season.

In their first season in the top flight, Cherries have won five games in front of their own fans, with six being the previous lowest – in their first year in the Football League in 1923-24.

Howe, who has guided Cherries to within touching distance of safety, said: “I believe we have always been a team which has been better when we have attacked.

“We attacked the Championship for two seasons and people said maybe we couldn’t play that way. We have had the same philosophy towards the Premier League.

“We want to attack, we want to be brave and, so far, it has worked for us so we are not going to veer from that. But, certainly, there is a need to improve as we do it.

“There is always a difference between home and away. We have found it more difficult at home to get the balance right between attacking teams and how many men we commit forward. That was a problem for us against Chelsea.

“But we want to be positive at home and want to try to commit our game on to other teams but it is difficult. The alternative is to sit off but that doesn’t always work either. We are playing very good teams at this level and we have to try to find a way.

“You learn harsh lessons because of the scoreline but we are playing world-class players and are learning all the time.

“There is no easy way to become an established Premier League club and there are going to be some tough days.

“We always knew this would be a really tough run of fixtures and we have caught some teams on bad days. This was one of the best performances I had seen from Chelsea in recent weeks and, unfortunately, we were on the end of it.”

Asked in which areas he felt Cherries would need to improve, Howe replied: “In all areas to be honest. We want to score more goals and concede fewer.

“The overall evolution of the team is to progress and become stronger. I think we have become stronger throughout the season and have learned a lot. But we certainly have some way to go.”