West Bromwich Albion suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat away at Watford on Tuesday night.
Watford’s Nordin Amrabat in action with West Bromwich Albion’s James McClean
Tony Pulis has explained that the number of minutes that James McClean had played was the reason behind his half-time substitution in West Brom’s defeat to Watford on Tuesday, the Express and Star reports.
McClean was perhaps surprisingly replaced at half-time during the Baggies’ loss to the Hornets when Pulis’ men were 1-0 down thanks to an early goal from Mbaye Niang.
And while some may believe that an incident shortly before the break with Watford’s Jose Holebas may have prompted Pulis’ decision to replace the occasionally fired-up winger, the West Brom boss insisted that the amount of action he has seen lately for club and country was what influenced the call.
“I targeted James and Gareth because they played the two full games,” he said, as reported by the Express and Star. “I really wanted to get them off. I’ll have a look at it afterwards, someone says he does kick out. Health and safety today I’m not sure how strong the kick was.”
West Brom manager Tony Pulis
While Matt Phillips coming on would have meant that the Baggies probably did not lose any creativity – the Scotland international has provided four goals and eight assists in the top flight this term – they could have perhaps still done with having McClean on the pitch to give them more of a threat as they chased the game.
They certainly created enough chances during the contest, but Deeney’s goal three minutes after the break left them with too much of an uphill battle, so Pulis will be hoping that the decision to rest McClean reaps some rewards in their next game.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
