Saturday 7 January 2017 19:14, UK
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe admitted 'his hands were tied' after making 11 changes to his team for their 3-0 FA Cup defeat to League One Millwall.
Millwall produced a shock thanks to goals from Steve Morison, Shaun Cummings and Shane Ferguson to book their place in the fourth round
When asked if he regretted making so many alterations, Howe said: "In hindsight, with the result, yes, but though I haven't been forced, my hands are tied a little bit.
"We are so stretched, the Premier League is such a demanding league, we feel we need our best players available for selection.
"Marc Wilson has pulled his hamstring, so we're a body down and if that had been a first-team player, that would have been really catastrophic. We tried to protect the players we had fit.
"Millwall deserved it. It was really disappointing, because I was excited to see the team play before the game. We had a good balance between a lot of experience and a bit of youth, but this is a tough place to play.
A clearly disappointed Howe added: "I can't disguise how I feel and look for too many positives.
"We didn't have that cohesion that we would expect. There were a lot of new players in there who didn't do very well as a partnership. It was a very difficult game to watch.
"It's a really difficult one. We'd love to win the FA Cup, we'd love to go as far as we can.
"Previous years I have made changes and we have gone on some good runs. This is the first time we've suffered in the cup and it disappoints me immensely.
"The majority of those players have played in the Premier League, but not together at the same time and that is the thing that has cost us."
