This is why Bruno Guimaraes was left out of Newcastle United’s starting XI at Tottenham Hotspur

Eddie Howe has revealed why decided against naming Bruno Guimaraes in his Newcastle United starting XI at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Brazilian - after starting the last three games at Southampton, Chelsea and Everton - was one of three players to make way.

Jonjo Shelvey, returning from illness, got the nod ahead of Guimaraes as Howe fielded a midfield three, also featuring Joelinton and Joe Willock.

When asked about Guimaraes’ omission, Howe cited United’s previous unbeaten and his international involvement with Brazil, which caused him to miss the training camp in Dubai.

The 24-year-old didn’t return to training until Friday after playing at alitude in Selecao’s 4-1 win in Bolivia, where the midfielder scored his first national goal.

Howe explained: “I didn’t select him to start because I wanted to revert to the midfield that had served us so well during the nine game unbeaten run and the fact he hadn’t been training with us and wasn’t able to prepare with us in the same way the other players had.

“There was a couple of different angles to look at.

Guimaraes was introduced as a 58th-minute substitute, though Howe’s side were 3-1 down by that point before further goals from Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn inflicted a heavy defeat.

Howe added: “I thought it was a difficult game for him (Guimaraes) to come into because at that moment we were still chasing the game and as I said earlier, I don’t think we chased it very well. We weren’t efficient with what we were doing.

“It was a difficult game to come into because the rhythm of our game had gone.”