Howe said: "We knew today was going to be difficult and that was highlighted by the first 10 minutes as that was a tough start to the game for us.
"It was a really good display from us, confidence is gradually returning, the strength in depth is good. You could see that by the bench. We are determined to give our all and finish as high as possible. We set our targets after the last international break and we need to keep that going in the last few games."
Howe added: "We have always had the train of thought it is about us. We are aware of other teams to play, we have Man United to play so we will prepare the best we can.
"It is about our results. You could see today our desire and I could sense that pre-game in training. We have a really good group who want to get back into Europe.
"We know we're going to have to win games to qualify for Europe and we know it's going to be tight. We're up against top quality teams and Chelsea are in a good vein of form too so I think it will go right to the wire."