Tony Gustavsson has defended the strategy but questioned his own timing of substitutions in the Matildas' costly 3-2 loss to Nigeria that has rocked the hosts' Women's World Cup hopes.
Australia led 1-0 but were quickly down 3-1 after conceding goals either side of halftime at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Yet coach Gustavsson didn't make a change until the 82nd minute, and it was a funky one at that with central defender Clare Polkinghorne replacing winger Cortnee Vine.
Forward Alex Chidiac was introduced three minutes later and the Matildas eventually got one back when Alanna Kennedy pushed forward and headed home.
Chidiac, Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter all had shots saved, or miss narrowly, in the final minutes as Nigeria held on for a famous win.
"I know it can look strange when you take an attacker off and put a defender on," Gustavsson said post-game.
"We were very, very close. We could have scored four goals in the last 10 minutes.
"Alanna is a brilliant attacking option and Polks' attributes on set plays and her winning mentality; she's scored tons of game-winners from set plays.
"It's something we've played and prepared for."
The coach conceded he may have pulled his levers too late.
"Did we get that because I did it in the right moment, or should I have done it earlier and we could have played longer with that positive effect?" he asked.
"The No.1 challenge is to find the right answer before you know whether it's right or wrong.
"We had momentum and sometimes when you want to sub you don't want to disrupt the momentum.
"I'm going to review whether I did it too late or not."
Injured Matildas great Elise Kellond-Knight told broadcaster Channel Seven she "would have personally done something at the 70-minute mark" while sidelined winger Emily Gielnik queried the lack of attacking changes.
"In the dying minutes of the game, you want attackers on there," Gielnik told the Dub at the Cup podcast.
“They’re to change the game, to score goals, to win it for the team, they’re fresh legs. It’s disappointing."
Described as a "brilliant game-changer" by her coach, Chidiac admitted she was itching to see some action and was shattered not to provide the game-changing goal when finally deployed.
"That's every player sitting on the bench - they always want to get on the field, we always want to help our team out," Chidiac told reporters.
"But you never go against what the coach says. He knows what he's doing clearly and he's got a game plan and all of us follow that.
"We're all one team. Whatever role I have to play in this World Cup I'm going to play it to the best of my ability."
