Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has taken full responsibility for his team selection in the 3-1 defeat against Fulham.
Howe made four changes from the 2-1 comeback win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday. Joe Willock and Harvey Barnes, who came on at half-time at Molineux, were named in the starting XI, while Kieran Trippier and Lloyd Kelly replaced Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall.
The changes, however, didn’t pay dividends as the Magpies trailed 2-0 at the break following goals from Raul Jiminez and Emile Smith Rowe. As a result, Willock and Kelly were hooked at half-time with Jacob Murphy and Lewis Hall brought on to impact the game.
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It was worked initially, with Murphy setting up Barnes for 2-1 less than 60 seconds after the restart. However, United were unable to find an equalise before Reiss Nelson added a third in stoppage time.
Speaking about his team selection, Howe said: “Every game is different and we’re trying to pick the team that we feel gives us the best chance to win the game today.
“Harvey Barnes definitely deserves to start and I was happy with the team. The players that started the game were part of our full-back against Wolves and I was anticipating a really good performance but it wasn’t there. It’s really disappointing.
“Joe [Willock] did so well against Wolves and I felt it was right to reward him with a start but then you see the game and I question whether that was the right decision from myself so I’ll take responsibility for that.
“Joe is just back from injury and done very well to come back, he’s such a big player for us and I was keen to see him play but it was a tough one for him and the team.”
Howe added: “It’s not something I want to be doing [making changes at half-time] but I felt we needed to do it for the game and our performance. I thought we were better in the second half so there is a degree that the substitutions helped us at that stage, maybe not the latter ones where I thought our performance tailed off in the second period.
“But definitely the ones at half-time. I thought Lewis Hall did really well and Jacob of course set up the goal. There was a much better feel about the group in the second-half. Fabian’s chance is probably a key moment in the match. It could have been different for us but it wasn’t to be.”
