EDDIE Howe watched substitutes Jordon Ibe and Marc Pugh help turn the tide against Wigan and then admitted: "They didn't let us down."

Cherries trailed 2-0 to League One leaders at the halfway point of Saturday's FA Cup third-round clash at Vitality Stadium.

But boss Howe's decisions to bring on Ibe for debutant Connor Mahoney and Pugh for Brad Smith proved inspired, the substitutes setting up the two goals which earned Cherries a replay.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “The two players who came on are outstanding players and Jordon is in great form as well.

“I was very confident he would make a difference and it is the quality of the players you are bringing on which is the key thing. They didn’t let us down.

“Connor was unfortunate to come off. I don’t think he did anything wrong. There were a lot of good things about his game but I had to make a decision to try to get us back in the match.

“I wanted to make two subs. I wanted Marc Pugh’s experience on the pitch and Jordon Ibe’s pace, so that was why he came off.

“Brad has had a very serious injury and has been out a long time so I don’t think 45 minutes was a bad thing for him."

Howe felt Cherries' fight had shone through having battled back to secure a draw.

He said: “I’m very pleased with the spirit the team showed in coming back as we have in recent weeks. I think that’s a great sign, it doesn’t matter who you play against.

“Coming back from losing positions isn’t easy and the players deserve a lot of credit for doing that again.

“We don’t tend to make things easy for ourselves and that was the case today. We conceded so early in the game that we were never able to get the control we wanted and then it becomes more difficult because of the feeling of the players and the atmosphere around the ground.

“The first goal we conceded was poor but we could not do a lot about the second. We were 2-0 down and it was a long way back.

“In the second half, we had a different look about us, we were a lot more fluent and were combining in wide areas.

“We had a good look about us and created a number of chances and I was pleased to see the second one go in.

“I think Wigan will be pleased with their first-half performance and we are pleased with our second-half performance, so a draw is probably fair."

On Steve Cook's stoppage-time equaliser, Howe added: “It’s great to see him pop up with another goal. He could have scored before so he was well involved.

“I was pleased with his contribution at that end of the pitch."