Northampton Town manager Keith Curle has explained why he left midfielder Alan McCormack out of Saturday's win over Forest Green Rovers.
McCormack had been taken off in the previous week's game at Exeter City and although scans had come back clear, and the midfielder was keen to play, Curle says he decided to take the cautious route.
"Alan was desperate to play, as he is always is and that is one of the things we love about him," said the Cobblers boss.
"But I have to look at the bigger picture, and I wasn't happy, with the information I had, that playing him was the right thing to do. I felt more comfortable giving him an extra week's recovery ahead of the busy schedule coming up.
"Then, if I had named him on the bench, I wouldn't have been able to resist using him, I know I wouldn't, and I said to Alan that we will need him for the Christmas and New Year games.
"He is that important to us, I just didn't want to take any risks and thankfully, things worked out well as we got the win and the clean sheet and Alan has had a few more days of recovery under his belt."