Manager Eddie Howe was quoted after the match as saying: "We have been good defensively on the road and we protected our goal very well. I think whenever you watch us play this season we've always looked like we've had goals in us and we were quite ruthless when our opportunities came along. That's a good combination when you are tight defensively and free-scoring. I think we've got a good squad and it's very difficult to pick a team when you are in my position with the strength that we have and the other guys have proved that in all the cup competitions this year. When the team has just been on a long unbeaten run and suffered its first defeat I wanted to give those lads an opportunity to respond and make sure I didn't make any knee-jerk reactions in terms of selections".