AFCB show adaptable qualities

Eddie Howe was quick to praise his players for being so adaptable in how they played against Burnley. The pitch was very soft and slow which meant there was always going to be a lot of headers and less stylish play than usual. And yet AFCB still managed to get the ball down and play some attractive football.

AFCB can play in different ways.

Much has been made of the 4-4-2 formation that Eddie chose to play. While this meant that Grabban did not perhaps make so many diagonal runs to the corners to stretch the play it did mean that he could try and link up with Rantie. I did not see the two of them exchanging lots of passes. It was more a case of one trying to feed the other pass though on goal when they had the chance rather than any long periods of play in front of the Burnley back four. The aim was certainly to turn Burnley's defence and get them facing their own goal.

Speaking about the playing conditions Eddie Howe said: "Luckily we planned for it this week. We knew the pitch would be in a bad state if it was on. We adapted our tactics and I don't apologise for that.  We went 4-4-2. We tried to stop their direct ball forwards by playing with two strikers and also tried to get down the sides of their centre halves, purely due to the conditions."

Yet again the ground staff have showed that they are amazing in getting the match on. The wind was probably a big help but I am pleased that the team will be away next weekend to give Dean Court a chance to try and recover a bit before the next home match against Doncaster Rovers.