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Attendance: 10,808

Premier League

Feb 24, 2018 at 3pm UK

Bournemouth
2-2
Newcastle Newcastle United

Smith (80'), Gosling (89')

FT(HT: 0-2)

Gayle (17', 45')

Eddie Howe: 'Bournemouth were poor for 70 minutes'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 24 February 2018

Eddie Howe hails the impact made by his subs to help Bournemouth recover from two goals down and draw 2-2 against Newcastle United.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has confessed that he struggled to see where his side's goals would come from, as they battled back from two down to draw 2-2 with Newcastle United.

The Cherries left themselves with a mountain to climb after conceding to a couple of Dwight Gayle goals in the first half of Saturday afternoon's clash on the south coast.

Adam Smith came off the bench to help kickstart the late revival, however, before Dan Gosling bagged an equaliser against his former club in the 90th minute.

Howe was particularly pleased with the impact made by his back-up players, with Lys Mousset and Jermain Defoe also playing a part in the comeback.

"I think my heart is being tested this season," he told reporters after the match. "Despite my age, I certainly feel it. Today was tough. We weren't very good for 70 minutes, but I have to praise the attitude and spirit of the team to come back. You need everyone to be focused and not feel sorry for themselves or sulk before the game has ended.

"I always believe that we're good enough and that no matter what the situation is, it's possible. But with the lack of goalmouth action, I thought it was going to be difficult for us to find two goals. The substitutes made a difference and we were able to change the game and pen them in their own half. I was really pleased and I think the substitutes show the quality we've got.

"Adam Smith is an excellent full-back and I thought he did very well down that left-half side. Jermain and Lys also made a difference and we looked a different team for the last 20 minutes. For the first ten minutes I thought we were going to produce a good performance, and the goals were probably the turning point. We never really recovered from conceding the first goal.

"They played on the counter-attack and played behind us, and then the second goal changed things again and made for a difficult atmosphere at half time. It's really encouraging that we're playing teams in and around us and not getting beat to them. It was a massive 20 minutes for us and all credit to the players for delivering as they did."

Bournemouth have now picked up 13 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season - a joint-high along with Everton.