Matthias Jaissle has explained why he did not make half-time changes during Newcastle United's 4-1 defeat to Coventry City, citing the need to manage players carefully amid a lengthy injury list.
No changes at the break
The German head coach watched his team go in 1-0 down at the interval, aware the scoreline could have been worse. However, he sent out the same XI for the second half and waited until almost the hour mark before introducing Joelinton, Amar Dedic and Bazamouna Toure.
Asked why the changes had not come earlier, Jaissle told Chronicle Live: "Unfortunately, the management of the players is the way we look at it.
"We have to be smart, we have had so many injuries already and we have to follow the advice there."
"So we'd took up the limit (maximum time they could play) on these guys. I'm happy that they are there but it will also take a couple of weeks until they're physically at their best again."
"So you need to figure out (the best time)."
Apology to travelling fans
The night ended with a face-to-face meeting between the players and some of the 3,030 fans who had made the journey to the East Midlands on a Monday night. Jaissle admitted his players must improve in key areas of the pitch but could not fault the effort of his young side.
Jaissle said: "Of course, we can only apologise to fans who made the long journey. They deserved a better result.
"We tried our best. We need to improve, especially in both boxes.
"Because that's where games are decided."
A tough story
Despite having 66% possession and creating 19 attempts at goal, Jaissle also suggested there was a "tough luck" element to the defeat.
He went on: "If you lose 4-1, you can say it is not good enough. But I think it was a tough story.
"Throughout the whole match, you need to be realistic and analyse the situations and the game in detail. I think there were elements where we can see improvement, but on the other hand, there were also elements where, in both boxes, we need to step up and improve.
"In the end, these margins are deciding games. We had many, many chances, which was an improvement, but in the opposition box, we need to be sharper and more clinical in the approach to score goals."
