Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley says that Championship clubs must be careful in the way that they use young players signed on loan from the Premier League.

Cowley came in for scrutiny last weekend for his decision to rest on-loan Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe for his side's 1-1 draw at Derby, but the Terriers boss is standing by that call, due to the need to give players such as Smith Rowe the time to adapt to the challenges of regular first-team football.

Speaking to The Examiner, Cowley was asked whether the decision to drop Smith Rowe was the right one for the Arsenal loanee, the 41-year-old said: "Yes, I think so. I don't think it's a matter of benefiting, just that we didn't put him at risk.

"Him being at risk was our concern. We have to be careful with them when they are at that age and they are living with the demands of the Championship for the first time. It has to be progressive and gradual."

Indeed, Cowley does not believe he is the only manager in the Championship taking that approach, pointing to a player his side could come up against when they travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea on Saturday afternoon, with the Terriers boss adding: "Swansea will have done the same with (Liverpool loanee) Rhian Brewster - they didn't play him on a Friday night (at Hull City). They left him out, although we anticipate he will play this coming Saturday.

"So sometimes you have to make those decisions. Sometimes you don't want to, but you have to."

Despite that, Cowley did admit that having Smith-Rowe - as well as several recently injured attacking options - available again for the trip to Wales is a boost for his side, as he concluded: "But to have him (Smith Rowe), Alex Pritchard, Karlan Grant and Collin Quaner back in the training group and available for selection bodes well and definitely gives us a lot more attacking options at the top end of the pitch."

Since making the temporary move from Arsenal in the January transfer window, SmithRowe has made six appearances for Huddersfield, scoring once.

Brewster, whose move to Swansea also came about at the turn of the year, has so far made seven appearances for Steve Cooper's side, scoring three goals in total.

The Verdict

I think this is a sensible decision from Cowley here.

There often seems to be an expectation on Premier League loanees to play every game during a spell in the Championship, but that may not always be a benefit to them.

Too much football in such short space of time may not always be the best thing for them, if that is not something they are used to, which Cowley is suggesting could then have an adverse effect on them physically, which is not going to help anyone.

You feel this approach is one that could also benefit Cowley - and indeed Cooper at Swansea - going forward, since Premier League clubs may be more willing to loan him their players, as they now know that he is taking both their development and well-being seriously.