MARK Hughes explained why he felt it was the right call to drop Richie Smallwood.
The skipper was benched for yesterday’s 1-0 win over Crewe – only the second league game he had not started since joining City 14 months ago.
Sam Stubbs took the armband in Smallwood’s absence, although he came on midway through the second half.
Hughes had opted to give Kevin McDonald his first start for the club instead.
The City boss said: “It was more about wanting to start Kev.
“I talked to Richie about it on Friday and he understood the thinking behind it.
“He will always want to play so he wasn’t happy that he wasn’t going to start. But you saw when he came on that he was fully engaged with what he was doing.”
Hughes switched formation when Smallwood came on to play them together as holding midfielders in front of a back four.
“It’s a good option for us those two, as and when I see fit, and I thought Richie had a good impact on the game,” he added.
“It’s still early in the season. Some get up to speed quicker than others and maybe that’s one thing that he knows himself that he’s not quite where he needs to be.
“But he will get there very quickly. He’s had more minutes under his belt again and looked like he was having a real impact and enjoying himself.”
Crewe chief Lee Bell called the result “unjust” as they were beaten for the first time this season.
“I thought we dominated first half and to go in 1-0 down was harsh on the team,” he said.
“The goal came when we were fully on top and probably playing as well as we have done this season.
“That moment cost us the game. If it was still 0-0, they’d have sat even further back and gone into their shell a little bit and we’d dominate the ball even more.
“That was probably the little bit of luck they were needing at the start of the season.”
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