There were 90 minutes on the board – if still 10 of stoppage-time to follow – when Matt Ritchie and Emil Krafth finally made their entrances. There was a time when Sean Dyche felt the manager least likely to turn to substitutes. Now it is Eddie Howe, and for a different reason: minus 11 players, he in effect does not have alternatives.
There was a time when Dyche marked winning promotion with four games to go by naming an unchanged team for the remaining matches. Now Howe has picked the same 10 outfield players against Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Everton in 12 days. Out of a possible 360 minutes – injury-time actually makes their workload bigger – Alexander Isak has played 351, Jamaal Lascelles 356, Miguel Almiron 357, Anthony Gordon and Lewis Miley 359. Kierian Trippier, Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton have gone the distance.
