Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has said Tammy Abraham is more concerned about being left out of his team, than with his omission from Gareth Southgate’s England squad ahead of the international break.
Southgate opted to invite Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa instead of Abraham and cited a lack of starts as his reason.
Abraham has found his progress stall under Tuchel through both an ankle injury and his non-selection when he has been fit.
“We have not talked about [England],” Tuchel told reporters. “I actually feel him right now a bit more concerned about his role in our team because I think that he clearly knows a role in our team can improve his chances to have a role in the English national team.
“We did not talk about it but it would not surprise me if it’s in his head. This is totally normal at this level that the players have their own interests, and one of the interests is to have a role in their team but also their country.
“These are two objectives for Tammy, but in our talks now, it’s just about the next steps here, how to increase his involvement here. But, at the same time, when you give confidence to strikers who are actually on the pitch, we cannot change all the time so it’s not easy.
“I accept that it’s not too easy, but it’s also not too hard, and I hope he is not too harsh on himself or overthinks it like, ‘If my situation is like this now what are the consequences?’ He has to refocus on his situation and this is what I feel.
“We have talked about the actual situation here in the club and from here, he has, every day, the chance to find his way back.
“It’s been hard for him because he’s never felt fully free, never felt fully painless after this tackle (a challenge from Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles that left Abraham injured) so it was hard for him to really perform on the level that you need to perform in training to convince your coach to leave somebody else out.”
