Eddie Howe has explained his logic after leaving Miguel Almiron out of his starting line-up against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Paraguay international came off the bench to score the winner against Wolves and helped end a run of five matches without a victory in the Premier League for the Magpies. But Howe insists he did not drop his top scorer and that the decision will pay dividends later in the season.
Howe said: "I would not say he'd had a tough six weeks. I think he has been excellent.
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"Maybe he hasn't had the goals he had earlier in the season, but by his high standards that is very difficult to replicate on a consistent basis. I just felt a rest and a refresh of him would do him the world of good."
The build-up to the game against Wolves was dominated by talk of Howe not being able to play Alexander Isak for 90 minutes on a regular basis. Howe wanted to close down that topic after the game on Sunday and has reiterated what he meant.
And his thinking does not just apply to Isak. Isak scored the opener on Sunday before coming off after 68 minutes at St James' Park before Almiron came on and netted the match winner.
Howe reiterated: "Is he fit to play 90 minutes in the style we want? I demand an incredible amount from all positions but especially the strikers and the front players.
"Is he fit to do that? Maybe not but he's building towards it. We ask our players to empty and if they can't continue they come off."
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