This article is part of Football FanCast's Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC's microscope.

Andy Carroll started as a substitute for the visit of Southampton but his impact when coming on was decisive in handing his side the victory.

Off the bench

The 30-year-old is beginning to find both form and fitness for the Magpies and Steve Bruce deserves credit for the way he has handled his return to the north-east.

Carroll has mostly remained injury-free and although he played a big hand in the win over Sheffield United, Bruce was right to be careful by not starting him again just a few days later.

Joelinton wasn't a hit with the fans again and Carroll coming on to replace him clearly turned the game in Newcastle's favour, as he certainly made his presence known.

He won eight aerial duels in 30 mins - almost as many as the Brazilian amounted in double that time - and put in a stunning cross for Jonjo Shelvey to head in the equaliser, his second assist in two matches.

The striker has made a career out of being a nuisance and he certainly displayed those attributes against Saints, and on that showing, he may take Joelinton's place in the team.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Liverpool signings...

Deserves a chance

Carroll has had to bide his time for regular starts since coming back to St. James' Park, but given the disappointment of Joelinton since he arrived it is likely that fans would support him being given more game time.

The former Hoffenheim man has struggled to fulfil the role of a loan striker, with his inability to hold the ball up and subsequent poor passing the main cause in him underwhelming.

Watch a Newcastle fan shut down Michael Owen in an epic rant in the video below...

https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x7k6ilx

He managed just 57% pass accuracy on Sunday and though Carroll doesn't excel in that area either, he does at least have the strength, awareness, and aerial presence to pick out teammates with flick-ons.

As well as that, Carroll provides a key presence in both boxes, and that is vital to Newcastle defending and scoring from set-pieces - and that could be key to winning at Burnley next up.

The target man should, therefore, take a place in the starting line-up for that fixture, and if he makes a similar impact then there is no reason why he shouldn't be given a regular run in the team.

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer has hailed Steve Bruce's intervention against Saints, too, pointing to his substitutes being imperative to picking up three points.