Eddie Howe says John Lundstram's late strike was 'really poor' for Cherries to concede

Lundstram came off the bench to fire home a decisive strike for the Blades at Bramall Lane, after being teed up by former Cherries man Lys Mousset.

The visitors had led thanks to Callum Wilson’s first-half opener before Billy Sharp had levelled the contest on the stroke of half-time for the Blades.

Howe said: “Generally, I thought the performance overall was very good.

“The two goals we conceded were out of keeping really with the overall performance. The first time they had real genuine pressure in the game, we conceded.

“Genuinely I thought our defensive performance was pretty good. But if you look at the two goals, we’ve made a lot of mistakes to the build-up to those goals.

“The second goal I thought was a really poor one.”

The result meant Cherries remained two points above the bottom three in the Premier League, having played a game more than three of the four sides below them.

The Cherries boss added: “The lads gave everything to the match. We were very committed.

“The way we started the game, you wouldn’t know we were in the position we are in.

“We passed the ball really well, showed good composure coming to a very tough place to play.

“We scored a really good goal, could have scored more. The early signs of the game were very good.

“The first real spell of pressure, we just couldn’t see it out. That had a big bearing in the game, you hope it wouldn’t do but I think ultimately it did.”

Victory took the Blades up to fifth in the table, two points off the Champions’ League places.

Asked if the hosts deserved credit, Howe replied: “It was expected how good Sheffield United would be. They’ve got a good way of playing.

“They can pass the ball, they can go direct, they are a threat from set-plays and they have different ways of scoring.”