Chris Brunt believes Premier League quality shone through at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon as AFC Bournemouth reached round four of the Emirates FA Cup.
The Baggies went ahead at the Vitality Stadium when Caleb Taylor headed in his first senior goal for the club.
However, the Cherries, sitting seventh in the top flight and just three points off a UEFA Champions League place, hit back to lead 3-1 at the break courtesy of Justin Kluivert's close-range finish and Dango Ouattara's brace.
Antoine Semenyo made it four just moments into the second period and Daniel Jebbison scored the fifth and final goal in second-half stoppage time.
Brunt admitted Bournemouth just had "too much" for the Baggies.
“We started the game really well and had some good opportunities. We managed to get the goal and we’re all delighted for Caleb because he’s had a good few months at Wycombe and it was nice for him to come back and score a goal.
“In the end though, I think their quality, especially on the counter, told. They had strong, athletic guys who were running forward and breaking fast. They caught us out a couple of times.
“You could feel that difference on the touchline today and ultimately they just had too much for us.
“I think 5-1 is a harsh scoreline. Joe Wildsmith has made a couple of decent saves, but he wasn’t massively under pressure. I don’t think he deserved to concede five goals, but that’s the quality of the Premier League. They get chances and they score goals.
“Obviously, if he stops a couple of those it’s not 5-1, but it is what it is. It was always going to be a tough ask.
“The third goal on the counter and the fourth one just after the break hurt us. They were poor goals to give away from our point of view.
“It’s really disappointing but I don’t think anyone in that dressing room deserved to lose by five goals to one. They’ve got a lot of quality in their squad and they’re flying at the moment. It was just too big a hurdle for us today.
“I think there are a lot of positives in there for the lads to take. At the end of the day, that’s where we should aspire to be as a football club, where AFC Bournemouth are now. We want to come up against teams like that every week. We perhaps haven’t had that taster of playing against the quality like Bournemouth have.
“It shows the players the levels they need to get to and as a football club we all want to be back experiencing that level of football. Hopefully the lads can take a lot out of that game to kick us on for the rest of the season.”
