Eddie Howe says he had to “protect” several key players amid concerns about their fitness during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.
Howe explained his decision to bench Joelinton and Anthony Gordon and bring them on in the second half because of concerns about their health.
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Howe explained that Jacob Murphy, meanwhile, was unavailable in the 3-1 defeat due to a neck problem.
“I couldn’t use Jacob Murphy today because he had a neck problem yesterday and I wanted to see how he felt in warm-ups and see if I could use him,” Howe said.
“So we were really tight again today and I thought the lads who came into the game gave it their all but we just ran out of energy.
“We didn’t want to start Joelinton, we felt the risk of injury today was too great.
“I think we’re in a difficult spot because we’re trying to finish games and perform well and win, but we’re also trying to guide and keep guys healthy, which is very, very difficult.
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“Combining the two, I don’t think we have enough quality at the moment to make a lot of changes and maintain the same quality in our performance. We tried to do that today with a couple of key players that we have to protect.
“Anthony Gordon has an ankle problem and we have to protect him today. We have to use our past experience to protect Joelinton today. These players are too big to lose.”
Howe also urged his players to move on quickly after their FA Cup exit and face what he called “the most important game in the club’s history” in the Champions League against Barcelona.
“I think we have to do it and although it’s easy to be very negative at the moment, I know we’re out of the FA Cup but we’re going to have the biggest game in the club’s history very soon,” he said.
“We have to prepare the players for this, we don’t have time to think about this.”
