Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe positive despite loss to Aston Villa

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has insisted that his team can take plenty of positives from their defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

The Championship side were beaten 2-1 at Villa Park on Sunday in the fourth round of the competition.

Despite their failure to reach the last 16, Howe believes that the Cherries can be proud of their performance against Premier League opposition.

"I don't enjoy losing," he told BBC Sport. "The experience of the day was a special one and I thought we did ourselves proud. It was an entertaining and tight game.

"That is the quality of the Premier League; they had two moments of the highest class. Otherwise, our keeper had nothing to do. We had a good first-half performance. We maybe did not reach those heights in the second half, but we will certainly grow from this experience."

Bournemouth are back in Championship action on Friday when they host fellow promotion hopefuls Watford.