BOSS Eddie Howe admitted Cherries’ League Cup win over Morecambe had given him food for thought ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Crystal Palace.

Cherries and the Eagles do battle at Selhurst Park searching for their first Premier League points of the new campaign following back-to-back defeats (3pm).

Goals from Max Gradel and Marc Wilson earned Cherries a 2-1 win at the Globe Arena on Wednesday and booked them a home tie in the fourth round with Preston.

Howe said: “It was really important we won and I didn’t shy away from telling the players that.

“You need to win and you need to feel that winning feeling. We knew it would be a tough game, especially with their league position and on their own patch.

“We scored a good goal and looked like we were comfortable in possession and it could be any score we wanted.

“Then, they scored from a long throw, which was something we had talked about. We knew their strengths but didn’t deal with it very well.

“Fair play to the players because they showed character from that point to get a grip on the game again.

“But we didn’t open them up enough. We had some great chances but weren’t clinical when they came.

“It should have been more comfortable from our perspective but the most important thing was we got the right result.”

Howe added: “First and foremost, I was pleased with the attitude of the players. We owed it to everybody connected with the club to put in our best effort and I felt they did.

“We lacked cohesion at times with new players coming in and players not having been paired together. But there was some lovely football as well so it was a good platform to build from.

“One or two put in good performances which will make me go away and think and see what we do for the game against Palace.

“That’s the beauty of this competition. It’s a chance for the squad to say “I’m good enough to be in your starting 11”.

“You always want that competition for places and you always want your team selection to be difficult because that’s the ideal scenario.

“You don’t want the team to pick itself. Certainly, we have more to do in the league campaign. We want to get that up and running so it will be interesting to see which team I pick.”