Being a football manager is never easy, and Notts County boss Luke Williams stressed that following his post-match assessment of their 1-0 win over Halifax Town at Meadow Lane.
The Magpies boss made three changes to the side that drew with Boreham Wood in their last National League encounter, recalling Connell Rawlinson, Jim O'Brien, and Sam Austin to his starting line-up.
This left Williams with the tough decision of leaving two of his squad at home, the unfortunate pairing being Ed Francis, and Kairo Mitchell.
READ MORE: Five things we learned from Notts County's 1-0 win over Halifax Town
With both Richard Brindley and Tobi Adebayo-Rowling recovering from their respective injuries, it left the Notts boss the decision of picking a matchday 16 from the possible 19 available to him.
The squad has been bolstered during the January transfer window with the loan arrivals of Archie Mair and Jodi Jones, ultimately pushing both Francis and Mitchell further down the pecking order as he seeks to find the right balance with his options from the bench.
And while the decision to leave those players at home was labelled 'cruel' by Williams, he highlighted their influence on the current squad and understands their frustrations of not being picked.
"I think it is really important for everyone to know that we had guys that didn't make the squad today," said Williams.
"And those players are incredible, incredible.
"They train so hard and are so disappointed and it's so tough for them.
"They are with the players and sometimes it's obvious that we see the guys on the pitch and how hard they are working, and for me, it feels so cruel for the guys that give so much to the group to then not be here on a matchday when it's the big thing for them."
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