Luke Williams admitted it was a risk to introduce Geraldo Bajrami in Notts County's 2-0 win over Gateshead on Tuesday evening.
The Albanian, who has not featured for the Magpies since their away win over Eastleigh last month, was brought on as a half time replacement for Adam Chicksen after the full-back suffered an injury in the first half.
This allowed Kyle Cameron to push forward in the wing-back role which proved effective, with the Notts skipper notching his fourth assist in two games as his looping header was met by Ruben Rodrigues on the line.
READ MORE: County player ratings v Gateshead as Magpies open up four-point lead
Williams' defensive problems thickened however as Chicksen joins Connell Rawlinson on the side-lines, with the Magpies boss revealing it was a risk to play Bajrami given the current injury situation within his team.
"It was a risk to tell you the truth, but I feel like that Cammy is very capable in that position," explained Williams.
"He has played at times during his career as a left winger and I thought he did brilliantly well, and we know Baj will give us the defensive experience that he has and the quality and strength he has against a team that were very good could hurt us at any time."
Cameron's height was an obvious advantage for Notts as they looked to add to their one-goal advantage supplied by Ed Francis in the first half.
And while Williams revealed it was not an intentional tactic during the second period, he explained his side recognised it as an alternative option to attack.
"I think it is a natural thing for the players to do when Cammy is there. They know that he is a different type of threat because when we have Chicks, Aaron and Tobi they are not a massive threat in the air. But I think the guys worked that out very quickly and used that as another tool."
One player absent from the squad was full-back Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, who had started the previous five games in the league, as Aaron Nemane returned to the matchday squad following issues with fatigue.
However, Williams said the defenders omission was nothing serious and will not keep him out of contention for the Magpies' FA Trophy fixture with Chorley this weekend.
"It's a combination of fitness and keeping him ready for this weekend. He has gone from not doing a lot to playing a lot of minutes at a really high intensity. But we noticed the fatigue scores were quite high so we need to look after him and have a really healthy squad.
"Tobi has done nothing wrong, he has played really well and is in a really good place."
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