Kim Hellberg has defended his decision to leave Will Lankshear out of Middlesbrough’s starting line-up against Cardiff City, despite the striker inspiring a second-half comeback.
Lankshear was left out of the team for the first time in the Championship this season, with Boro trailing 2-0 at half-time before he and Sebastian Berhalter were introduced.
The changes transformed the game, with Tommy Conway pulling one back before Lankshear scored the equaliser.
But Hellberg insists resting his top scorer was the right call.
“He was absolutely brilliant, there was no problem at all,” Hellberg said.
“I think it’s sometimes a bigger thing for people around.”
The Boro boss pointed out that Lankshear did not have a full pre-season and believes protecting him is important.
“We have a lot of players that have no pre-season. Will is one of those who come late and has been doing a lot of good things,” Hellberg said.
“He’s been absolutely brilliant, and sometimes you need to also protect him.
“It was very difficult for me to do that with Hayden [Hackney] last season – he had to play every minute, every second.”
Hellberg admitted he may have got other selection calls wrong, but stands by the Lankshear decision.
“So trying to find that balance is very difficult,” he said.
“It helps if you win the game when you do it, because otherwise you get a lot of criticism for it.
“You just take it and move on.”