Eddie Howe has defended his decision to make wholesale changes to his side for Newcastle United’s shock FA Cup third round defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday night, explaining that fatigue played its part.
With half an eye on Tuesday’s home Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester, Howe made eight changes to the team which had earned a draw at Arsenal on Tuesday. But the decision backfired when Josh Windass’s second-half double ended Newcastle’s 15-game unbeaten run and sent them out of the competition to League One opponents for the second consecutive season.
“I think you pick it looking ahead at future games of course,” Howe said. “We have a very quick turnaround, a late kick-off today, and I felt I saw some fatigue in the Arsenal performance.
“The lads gave everything and I felt it would have been unwise of me to pick the same team for this game and for Leicester as well. I am not sure the lads were physically able to give it their best if I did that. Hence the changes.”
Howe left the regular starters Fabian Schär and Callum Wilson on Tyneside, while Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimarães – who came off the bench to halve the deficit with 21 minutes remaining – Miguel Almirón and Joe Willock were all introduced as second-half substitutes.
That meant opportunities for the fringe players Jamaal Lascelles, Elliot Anderson, Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy. Howe felt the results of those changes were mixed.
“We’re aware that we don’t have the deepest squad in the Premier League,” he said. “We are light on numbers but we feel high on quality. Injuries will dictate how stretched you feel. We had an opportunity to play a lot of players that haven’t played a lot of minutes this season. I thought there were some positives and negatives within their performances. But I think it’s probably better that I analyse that in the cold light of day.”
One positive for Newcastle was the return of Alexander Isak. The club’s record signing has been out since picking up an injury while on international duty with Sweden in September. But the striker enjoyed a lively 45-minute appearance that would have been marked by a goal but for a pair of saves by Cameron Dawson.
Howe confirmed that the plan was always for Isak to be withdrawn at the interval, while also explaining that Allan Saint-Maximin was due to start the game only to pull out after Friday’s training session through illness. “It was a huge disappointment that he missed out,” said Howe. “We hope to get Maxi back to full fitness because he’s a gamechanger, a match-winner. With him in the team tonight, the result is potentially different.”
Sheffield Wednesday’s manager, Darren Moore, said: “Tonight was special. Eddie is doing a great job there so to beat them in the form they’ve been in, it makes it a special night. We need to savour the moment.”
