Michael Duff has revealed Jack Grimmer was left out of Wycombe Wanderers' squad against MK Dons as a precautionary measure rather than through injury.
The defender was absent from Saturday's dramatic 3-3 draw at Adams Park, prompting questions from supporters over his availability.
However, Duff confirmed the full-back was fit and had even trained on the morning of the game.
Instead, the decision was made to manage his workload following a disrupted pre-season and concerns over his injury record.
"Jack's absolutely fine," Duff said.
"It was purely a physical decision.
"He's had a really distorted pre-season and he's played Saturday and Tuesday, so asking him to go again today would have been a risk.
"Historically, he's had calf injuries.
"When you factor in a broken pre-season and then ask him to play three games in a short period, you start taking risks that you don't need to take."
With Wycombe's squad depth improving, Duff believes he is now in a position where those risks can be avoided.
"At the minute we've got enough players that we don't have to force those situations.
"If we put him in and something happened, you'd be asking why we took the risk."
Another key factor was the need for defensive cover on the substitutes' bench.
Duff opted to include academy graduate Mo Keita instead, giving him a natural option on the left side if required.
"When you're picking the bench it's not always about your best players.
"It's also about how you think a game might evolve.
"If Anders [Hagelskjær] had gone down today and we didn't have any left-sided cover, we'd have had a problem.
"Mo gave us that flexibility."
While Grimmer's absence sparked speculation, Duff insisted supporters should have no concerns over his availability moving forward.
"He trained this morning.
"He's fit, he's fine and he'll be available next week."
Interestingly, Duff also pointed to the positive influence Grimmer was able to have despite not being involved on the pitch.
The experienced defender remained heavily engaged throughout the afternoon and played a role in the dressing room after the final whistle.
"He was in there afterwards giving a bit of a pep talk.
"Sometimes when you're not playing, you're a little bit emotionally detached from the game and can see things more clearly.
"The lads who are on the pitch are running on adrenaline and emotion.
"Jack probably saw exactly what everybody else saw."
With Wycombe still searching for their first league win of the season, Duff will hope Grimmer's return to contention provides another experienced option when Wanderers travel to Leyton Orient next week.
But the manager is adamant that his absence against MK was simply sensible squad management.
"Sometimes you've got to think long-term.
"It wasn't worth taking the risk."
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