HE might not have enjoyed being brought off on the verge of a hat-trick, but Callum Wilson says he can understand why Eddie Howe currently feels the need to mix-and-match his centre-forwards.

Wilson scored two of Newcastle’s opening three goals in Wednesday’s 5-1 win at West Ham, but found himself being substituted shortly after the hour mark, with his replacement, Alexander Isak, going on to score a goal of his own as the Magpies cut loose in the closing stages.

Three days earlier, and the roles had been reversed, with Wilson coming off the bench at St James’ Park to score in the closing stages of a 2-0 win over Manchester United.

There is every chance a similar scenario will unfold when Newcastle take on Brentford in west London this afternoon, with one of Isak or Wilson starting and the other coming on to replace them midway through the second half.

Both strikers would ideally like to be playing for a full 90 minutes, but given the challenge of playing three games in six days and the physical demands that Howe places on his centre-forwards, Wilson is more than happy to back Howe’s judgement.

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“You always want to be on the pitch, but we have another game in a couple of days,” said Newcastle’s number nine. “So, the manager made his decision (to make a substitution) and I respect that.

“As a striker, you always want to score as many as possible, especially in a game like West Ham. But it wasn’t to be and hopefully we can take it into the weekend.”

Wilson’s double at the London Stadium on Wednesday extended a remarkable scoring streak that has now seen him score 12 goals in 13 matches against West Ham for both Newcastle and Bournemouth.

“You have some teams that you play against, and all of a sudden you score more against them than others,” said the Magpies striker. “West Ham are one of those.”