A disappointed Eddie Howe pointed to Bournemouth's shortcomings following his side’s 2-0 defeat against Watford this afternoon.

The Cherries have yet to get a point, or a goal on the board, after they were also beaten 1-0 in their Premier League opener at West Bromwich Albion and Howe again felt his side fell short of their usual level.

He said: “It was below our normal standards, the whole game really. We were off where we need to be. I felt it was a good chance for us today to win if we played well but we didn’t and we turned the ball over far too easily today. That was probably our Achilles heel. Usually we are very good with the ball, but today we were short and it led to numerous counter-attacking opportunities for Watford in situations that we would never normally give the ball away.

The Bournemouth boss continued: “It’s incredibly frustrating not just for me, but for the players as well. They feel exactly the same as I do. We know we’re better than that. That’s not a true representation of our ability so lots of work to do.

“I thought our tempo was low. We wanted a quick game, we felt that’s the best way for us to play. We’re better when we’re quicker but it was slow again and it was too methodical and we made it easy for Watford to defend.”