West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Irvine admits he dropped Jonas Olsson for victory at Tottenham.
Irvine went with Joleon Lescott for his debut over the Swede.
"Jonas wasn't injured - I spoke to him on Saturday and told him what my intentions were," Irvine said.
"That wasn't easy because I have a lot of respect for Jonas. He's a top professional and a very good player. But he knows that he made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes in the last couple of games that have been costly. But for the first time I've had a full range of options available this week.
"That makes your life more difficult in some ways because I had some big decisions to make and I had to look those particular people in the eye to tell them why I was making those decisions. That's not easy but it's part of my job to make tough decisions when necessary. I have to say Jonas will remain a very important member of our squad."
