BOSS Eddie Howe described as “a calculated decision” his half-time substitution of midfielder Harry Arter against Crystal Palace yesterday.

Arter, who had been booked for a first-half challenge on Wilfried Zaha, made way at the interval for Eunan O’Kane.

Howe said: “There was an element of trying to manage his work load so we might have him available for Arsenal.

“He was on a booking and there seemed to be an atmosphere to the game. We didn’t want to potentially risk going down to 10 men which would certainly have hampered us.

"I thought the referee managed the situation very well with the reaction of the Palace players and their supporters who were close to the incident.

"He could easily have had a different reaction and overreacted to that feeling so credit to him for how he refereed the game because I thought he did well.

“I just thought one more tackle from Harry would have seen a different reaction and I just wanted to take him out of that environment."

Palace boss Alan Pardew was also happy with the handling of flashpoint and said: "The ref made a good call on Harry Arter. He just slightly mistimed that challenge. That was the only moment where it got a little unsavoury but, in the end, the referee made the right call and it was all sorted out."