Jose Lopez has explained why Watford loanee Isaac Success failed to feature in his Malaga squad for their defeat to Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

The Nigerian was sent to the La Liga strugglers for the remainder of the season in January having struggled with injury for much of the first half of the campaign.

Success played 12 minutes as a substitute against Las Palmas but has been accused of being overweight by members of the Spanish media.

Lopez says Success was left out of the game against Atletico due to his inability to play enough minutes to make an impact against Diego Simone’s side.

Lopez told AS: “I am the main endorsement of Isaac coming here and I think, for this game, the minutes he will play, he may not be the right player.”

Success has played just twice this season, with a Carabao Cup appearances against Bristol City being his sole outing for Watford.

He suffered a leg injury in October which kept the forward out of contention for nearly the entirety of the campaign.