Eddie Howe believes Bournemouth’s 6-1 defeat at Watford last season was a “great experience in hindsight” because it showed his players how ruthless the Championship can be.

A repetition of the events of August 2013 never looked likely yesterday, as the Cherries were on track to take all three points back to the south coast thanks to Harry Arter’s fine strike before Craig Cathcart equalised with seven minutes remaining.

Last year’s scoreline was also harsh on Bournemouth, as the teams were level at the break. But Watford cut loose after the interval, with Gabriele Angella netting his second of the afternoon, Troy Deeney netting a second-half hat-trick and Lewis McGugan also finding the back of the net.

Asked about the significance of that result following yesterday’s match, Howe responded: “I don’t think you ever do [forget it] when you go through experiences in football. The lows stick in your mind more than the highs unfortunately.

“I think we were all mindful of that game because that was a great experience in hindsight because it taught us the ruthlessness of the division and if you’re not at your game and you give teams, good players chances they’ll punish you and that’s what Watford did that day. I actually felt we were really good in the first half and ended up getting beaten six.

“ I think we’ve hopefully shown the Watford fans that we’ve developed since that day and we’re now a much better side, although our results at the moment don’t reflect that I’m sure long term we’ll be fine.”