£63m Newcastle United duo overlooked v Wolves as bold call explained ahead of Man United

Eddie Howe has explained why he only made one substitution during Newcastle United’s 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Callum Wilson twice handed the Magpies the lead at Molineux but Mario Lemina and Hee-Chan Hwang responded for the hosts as both teams extended their respective Premier League unbeaten runs.

While Wolves made three subs, Howe’s only change was Joe Willock for Miguel Almiron in the 72nd minute in what highlighted the lack of attacking options currently available to the United head coach.

Newcastle lost Alexander Isak (thigh), Jacob Murphy (dislocated shoulder) and Elliot Anderson (back) to injury last week, while Sven Botman (knee), Harvey Barnes (foot) and Lewis Miley (glandular fever) are also sidelined. Sandro Tonali is now banned for 10 months.

Despite a lot of his players, many of whom featured in their third match in seven days, understandably looking visibly fatigued,Howe had his reasons for not utilising the subs bench.

When asked why he only made one change, Howe told NewcastleWorld: “The balance of the bench. I was left with a lot of defenders and I have to be careful when making changes for the sake of it.

“I think I’ve got to make changes that I think affect us positively and that’s no criticism of the players I have available on the bench but that game would have been a very difficult one to come into because of the conditions, 15-20 minutes you really want to be changing attacking players and trying to go for three points but obviously they weren’t there for us.

Two of the players overlooked were summer signings Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, although both are expected to start the fourth round Carabao Cup tie at Manchester United on Wednesday night.

“I’ve got no doubt they can handle it but they’re competing with top players in their position,” said Howe. “I’ve got to identify the right time to introduce them into the team and of course, they’ve got to earn the right to get the opportunity in the team.

“I believe in them both and think they’ll be outstanding players for us. They’re training well and fighting for the starting XI.”