Alan Pardew reflected on a night of missed opportunities as Crystal Palace fell to their fifth league defeat in a row at home to Bournemouth.
Goals from Marc Pugh and Benik Afobe cancelled out Scott Dann's opener for Palace, and Pardew's side find themselves in eleventh position in the Premier League table, having been as high as fifth in mid-December.
Pardew admitted to the media following the game, “we had good commitment but we lacked a bit of composure and quality at times.”
Yohan Cabaye in particular was singled out by Pardew as having been missed by Palace, and claimed that his side "missed Yohan's ability to put his foot on the ball and slow the game down" in what was a frantic and fiesty performance from both teams.
Palace were without several key players for the game. Cabaye and Joe Ledley were added to Pardew's ever-growing list of injuries following the FA Cup tie with Stoke City on Saturday. Youngster Hiram Boateng was called up to the first team squad to make up the numbers on the substitutes bench.
Pardew rues missed chances by strikers
Pardew claimed that Palace needed “a striker to stick one [of the chances] in.” Fraizer Campbell, Marouane Chamakh and debutant Emmanuel Adebayor all had golden chances to score in the second half for the home side but failed to find a way past a resilient Artur Boruc in the Bournemouth goal.
Pardew said, “the strikers had chances and we have to get one of them to take some of the chances at some point.”
Palace still look shy in front of goal
Scott Dann's goal was the first time a Palace player had scored in the league since December and Palace looked shy in the final third against Bournemouth, with some players either shooting too late and having their effort blocked, or passing to a team mate.
Palace travel to Swansea on Saturday and face a very tough game against a rejuvenated Swans' side, spearheaded by new manager Francesco Guidolin.
James McArthur and Jason Puncheon picked up injuries on Tuesday night, which means Pardew will be forced to field an even weaker side than the one that started the game against Bournemouth.