Luke Williams said it was difficult to leave Cedwyn Scott out of his starting line-up against Oldham on Sunday afternoon but praised the striker's reaction to the decision.
His replacement in the starting line-up was the returning Macaulay Langstaff, with the Magpies number nine firing home his 22nd goal of the season after great work from Aaron Nemane in the build-up.
But following Nathan Sheron's equaliser, Scott was introduced into the action and added to his two goals scored against the Latics at Meadow Lane, only for Joe Nuttall to net a penalty late on.
READ MORE: Notts County player ratings vs Oldham as Magpies start 2023 with a draw
The pair signed from Gateshead in the summer took their tally for the season to 34 with their respective strikes, and the Notts boss was on hand to share his reasoning behind his team selection.
"I think Macca's contribution to the team has been phenomenal really," explained Williams.
"At any level, to have the return that he has had is incredible so I think he deserved to go straight back into the team.
"Cedwyn deserves to play as well, so as you can imagine it is a very difficult decision for me and then both guys showed their qualities during the game and why they deserve to play.
"Cedwyn will always be disappointed not to play because he is very ambitious and he knows he has qualities and is always disappointed when he does not start.
"But he is a great professional and he accepted the decision, and then played a massive part in the performance and provided a key contribution, and everything about the way he conducted himself is what you expect."
One player that was absent from the trip to Boundary Park was Tobi Adebayo-Rowling.
The defender has not featured for the Magpies since their 4-3 win at Maidenhead last month, and Williams was able to provide an update on why the 26-year-old was unavailable for selection this afternoon.
"Unfortunately Tobi picked up a small injury," Williams said.
"We think that he won't be out for too long, Tobi is going to be a quick healer because he is well put together.
"At the moment he is going to be sidelined for the next couple of weeks I can imagine."
