The 1-0 defeat at Dean Court leaves Bournemouth in tenth place and 10 points away from the European places with only two games to play.
Iraola told the Daily Echo: “Obviously for us it's a missed opportunity.
“We knew that the game was going to be difficult. It has been more the game that I think Villa wanted to play, especially first half.
“A lot of stops, really very slow rhythm. And the things that were happening, were happening for them. They've managed better, especially first half, key moments.
“The last I think 30 seconds of the half, we make a mistake, we concede and I think we've not been good enough until 65, 70 minutes when they started to feel a little bit the tiredness and then we could find some better situations.
“We had our chances, especially when they went to ten but we haven't been able to score the ones we had.”
Small details
On what saw the Cherries lose on the day, Iraola said: “They were managing very well the small details, the free kicks, the throw ins, the second balls, but nothing was really happening until they started to get a little bit tired, but it was very late.
“We were already 1-0 down. And then, yes, the last, I think 20, 25 minutes, I’ve liked them more, but we haven't been able to score the chances we had.”