MY BOYS GIVE THEIR ALL

EDDIE HOWE has hit back at the critics who have suggested his Bournemouth players do not work hard enough.

BBC TV pundit Alan Shearer accused Howe’s team of failing to put in a shift in the dismal 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday that plunged the Cherries deep into relegation trouble, saying: “There was nowhere near enough workrate from them.” Bournemouth visit high-flying Wolves tonight desperate to stem a dreadful run of nine defeats in their past 13 games and angry Howe said: “Workrate is an easy thing to label players with on the back of a defeat. No player of mine would have gone out there thinking, ‘I’m not going to work as hard as I need to’. The squad were motivated and committed.

“Could we have played better against Palace? Of course we could.

“Could we have worked harder? Watching the game back I probably felt the same as everybody else – yes, we could. “But the key thing is, was it intentional? Were the players

Vgoing out there not to give their best? The answer is emphatically ‘no’.

“Conceding the early goal had a negative effect on confidence and the pressure of the game impacted on our players’ ability to do what they wanted to do.

“Historically we have been one of the hardest-working teams. Our fitness stats are up there as one of the top three in the division. “I’ve always backed my players if they deserve backing and our players knew the importance of the game. They are very good professionals. They wanted to win.” Howe had some good news when it was revealed striker Josh King was not as badly injured as was first thought after a tackle from Gary Cahill on Saturday, though he is unlikely to make tonight’s game.

Howe believes the battle to avoid the drop is going to go down to the wire, and he said: “We have to forget all the emotions and attack like our life depends on it.

“If we do that, then with the spirit we have and the experience of being in this position, I back us to do it.”