Luke Williams explained it was a tough decision to leave midfielder Sam Austin out for Notts County in their comfortable 3-0 win over Maidstone on Friday evening.
The 25-year-old was the standout player for the Magpies in their FA Cup defeat to Coalville Town last week, scoring twice but was named on the bench for Notts' return to National League action.
Austin replaced Cedwyn Scott in the 66th minute at Meadow Lane and produced another solid display, keeping possession of the ball as his side looked to see out win.
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And speaking after the game, Williams explained he looked at the performance of his players in their match against Woking when making his team selection, highlighting it was a tough decision to leave out last Saturday's two-goal man.
"Yeah, it was a tough decision but on reflection I looked at the performance of Cedwyn in the last game against Woking and it was outstanding.
"Ruben as well, fantastic so it is really a privilege to be able to bring Sam off the bench when he is such a good player and in such good form."
Two players not named in the matchday squad for the fixture against the Stones were Quevin Castro and Joel Taylor, with both featuring in their FA Cup exit, with the West Brom loanee named on the bench for the match against Woking.
The Notts boss revealed that his decision to leave the pair out the squad was purely based for selection reasons rather than anything else, explaining he picked the players suited to combating Maidstone's threat.
"It was just based on selection," said Williams.
"The players I thought would be ideal for this game. Quevin and Joel are both excellent players and of course if we want to be taken seriously, we have to have good players to come into the squad.
"We have Ed Francis on the bench, and he didn't even get on and he is a brilliant footballer, and we have to have that.
"It is difficult for the players when they don't get selected, and I understand the reasons why. I took training with those players in the morning so, it is nothing else other than the balance of the squad.
There was also a welcome return for defender Aden Baldwin on the bench. The 25-year-old had been missing for the last six games after picking up an injury Dagenham and Redbridge at the start of September.
And Williams was delighted to have Baldwin back in his squad, saying: "Aden is a special player, but when Connell has played in the middle of the back three, we have won every single game.
"Again, we are very fortunate, but Aden will have to be ready because if something happens in the back line with any player, we have someone really good coming in."
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