EPL: Why Tuchel is expected to be absent from the bench against Leicester City

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has given a latest update on the ban handed to him by FA following the exchange between him and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte.

Tuchel when asked if he would be available in the dug-out at Stamford Bridge for the Blues game vs Leicester revealed that he has responded to the charge, meaning the details are not yet confirmed, but he is expected to be absent from the bench on Saturday.

The Blues manager claimed he accepted the reasons for his ban.

Tuchel in a statement via Chelsea’s website said: ‘I don’t think I will be on the touchline but it’s not 100 per cent sure yet,’ he explained. ‘I think we can do the same as always because I can arrive at the stadium and be in the changing room, but not on the sideline.

‘We have responded to the charge and we are waiting for the answer today, but I think I cannot be on the sideline as it seems, but I can be in the dressing room at half-time. So the players will still be prepared and it is not an excuse.

‘I think there are two sides to it. The one side to it is that I got a red card and I behaved in a way which is not appropriate and which I regret, but it was out of passion. I don’t think it was too aggressive and it was out of passion.

‘I can accept that if I get a red card during a match, if this is the decision, then I have a touchline ban and then I’m fined. This is one side to it and I don’t dispute it and I can accept it.

‘What is hard to accept is the context, that I don’t think I started the aggression. It started earlier and I don’t think I was the only person involved and we both got a red card. A player pulled another player’s hair two minutes earlier, he can play on, he’s not banned and for a firm handshake at the end of the game one coach is banned. This is very hard to accept, but I have to accept it. But to put it into context I absolutely cannot understand it.’