‘That’s why’: Eddie Howe now explains exactly why he took £12m player off vs Crystal Palace

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Newcastle United put Crystal Palace to the sword on Saturday afternoon, giving Eddie Howe the chance to rest some of his key players.

The victory was pretty much guaranteed by half time, with Newcastle leading 3-0 after the opening 45 minutes.

In the 66th minute, Jacob Murphy set up Callum Wilson for the Magpies’ fourth, and this allowed Howe to ring the changes.

The Newcastle boss made a quadruple substitution, as he decided to rest some key players ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.

One of the players who Howe took off was Kieran Trippier, who was replaced by Tino Livramento. It was another outstanding performance from the £12million man, who got his sixth Premier League assist of the season when he created Newcastle’s opener.

Now the Toon manager has spoke about his decision to take Trippier off, and explained why it was vital for him to get a rest ahead of a busy period of football.

Eddie Howe wary of playing Kieran Trippier too much

Following the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace, Howe spoke to NUFC TV. He was asked discuss Trippier’s exceptional form in a black and white shirt.

“He’s in great form at the minute, both attacking and defending,” he said.

“I think his game is very strong. The only think we have to be wary of is his load and how much he is playing because he played with England and that’s a big effort from him.

“That’s why it was good to take him off and protect him. He’s a huge player.”

Perfect warmup for Kieran Trippier ahead of Borussia Dortmund

It was a smart decision to take Trippier off against Palace. The game was won, and there was no reason to take any risks with the 33-year-old.

It was the exact situation Livramento was signed for, and the youngster will hope to feature more and more in the coming weeks.

But it will be Trippier who starts on Wednesday night, as Newcastle face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. The right-back will be feeling refreshed ahead of that game, despite taking a few whacks against Crystal Palace.

It was a very physical game, but one that Newcastle appear to have came out of unscathed. That includes Trippier, who was only needed to play for just over an hour. During that time, it was a typical Kieran Trippier performance, and we will hopefully witness more of the same in the Champions League this week.