OWEN Coyle has vowed to continue keeping a protective eye on Chung-Yong Lee.

The flying winger made a successful return after a month away on international duty at the Asia Cup, playing 68 minutes of the 1-0 victory over Wolves at the Reebok on Wednesday night.

But despite receiving a negative reaction from the crowd after withdrawing the South Korea international in the second half, the manager reckons he will use the same cautious approach, if needed, in tomorrow's game at Tottenham.

“What you have to remember is that he’s been away for a month, halfway across the world,” Coyle said.

“When he came in on Monday he looked really tired, so we did nothing with him until a light session on Tuesday. But because he’s an integral part of our team, it was important to get him in there against Wolves and I knew I could get a good hour out of him.

“I can understand when we brought him off that the fans love him, so do I, but he’d run his race and we have to make sure we have him for the duration of the season, not just 90 minutes and then lose him for two or three weeks with fatigue.

“It's something you have to be very careful with but again, that's one of the tasks of being a manager.”

Coyle was delighted to see his team register their first Premier League victory of 2011 and hopes that with the majority of his squad now available for selection that the dip in form they had suffered since Christmas can now be consigned to the past.

Daniel Sturridge and Rodrigo will be pushing for a first team place after impressing off the bench, and the Whites boss admits he faces a difficult decision on whether to bring his young guns in at White Hart Lane.

“The great thing is that Rodrigo is 19 and Daniel is only just 21, and that's what we are trying to do, we are trying to build a football club, getting young players in to try and take us on to that next level,” he said.

“What we do have now, which is completely different to the last month, is real strength in depth.

“It was incredibly difficult to pick an 18 on Wednesday night and to tell someone like Robbie Blake that he'd be missing out, knowing how much it means to him and what he's done for me.

“It wasn't easy leaving Fabrice Muamba on the bench knowing the contribution he has made but that's what you're charged with as a manager. I'm certainly not afraid to make those big decisions.”