The manager has explained that he feels his centre-forward has been lacking in confidence of late and that is why he has taken him out of the firing line.
“The reason is that he is playing a lot of matches and, lately, not just not scoring goals but, fundamentally, not showing lots of confidence,” said Jose in a pre-match interview with Sky Sports.
“Sometimes, we decide the best thing for the player is not to be on the pitch but to be protected and to be away from the initial pressure. If, later, he comes into the game, he can probably come with a positive feeling of trying to make a difference and be back to normality.