JERMAIN Defoe backed Eddie Howe’s tough call to leave him on the bench and admitted: “I respect the manager’s decision.”

Boss Howe elected to name Defoe among his substitutes for the 1-0 defeat against the striker’s former club, Tottenham, with Joshua King preferred up top.

England international Defoe was instead introduced for Junior Stanislas in the 75th minute and immediately tested Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a fierce near-post drive.

Howe later explained the decision had been for tactical reasons. And Defoe, 35, admitted his experience in the game had made him more accepting of such calls.

He told the Daily Echo: “It’s a long season. I respect the manager’s decision.

“Managers make decisions and I think I’m at an age now where I understand them. In certain situations, I think maybe I would do the same if I were a manager.

“When you are young, you don’t really think about it in that sense, you just think ‘I want to play’.

“But now you think ‘if I were a manager, how would I approach the game?’.

“Against Spurs, it was a tactical decision and in the first half, the boys stuck to the game plan and the shape of the team was really good.

“It was a disciplined performance and you need that when you come to places like this.

“First and foremost, you have to try to stop them from scoring with all the top players they have got. I felt we did that well.

“We’re disappointed to concede the goal but I think it was a decent performance from us.”

Howe admitted it had not been easy to omit Defoe from his starting XI.

But the Cherries boss said he had wanted to take the team in a different direction, with King spending most of the game as a lone striker.

Howe said: “They are always tough decisions to leave out outstanding players. I just think tactically the game demanded we do something different.

“We have played 4-4-2 at White Hart Lane for two years in a row and got taught a lesson. It was always in our minds to do something different to give us a way of staying in the game.”

Asked how the former Sunderland hitman had taken the news, Howe said: “Jermain was fine, he is a professional.

“He understood the tactical thinking behind the decision and that was reflected when he came on. I thought he did very well.”

Defoe came off the bench for Cherries’ opening two Premier League games of the season while still building his fitness, the hitman replacing Benik Afobe in defeats to West Brom and Watford.

He made his first start since rejoining the club in the EFL Cup win at Birmingham at the end of August and subsequently made five starts in a row.

Defoe scored his only goal of the campaign to date when he applied a clinical finish during the 2-1 victory over Brighton last month.