Howe started the game with Anthony Gordon, Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes in attack.
He later explained, "We wanted to go for real pace against their backline. That was the idea behind selection.
"Anthony played really well. Not just his goal but his all-around play, his athleticism, and his technical ability, I think it helped the team. We gave them problems. We could not use Sven Botman and Lewis Miley so the team selection and formation was forced upon on us."
Asked why Lewis Miley and Sven Botman did not play, Howe said: "Sven had a tight thigh and we were under the advice not to use them. With Lewis he could not bend his knee to declare himself fit."
"The thing that's cost us today is the manner of the goals we've conceded. We wouldn't normally, by our very high standards, concede those types of goals."
On another defeat away from home, Howe also said: "It has been a problem for us all season, there is no getting away from that fact. Ideally today we would have played a little differently but we were really hamstrung with injuries so we went the way that we did and I was pleased with the attitude of the players. We saw some really positive signs that can help us in the future.
"We have to keep looking for solutions. We are in a tough run with a lot of away fixtures so we are going to be really finely tuned and hope we can solve our away form and in the next games we can come up with the solutions to take us forward."