Tuchel reacts to James’s England call up

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has reacted to Reece James’ call up to the English national team.

This comes after the Blues star was named in the latest England squad on Friday morning.

The report from Stamford Bridge revealed that Tuchel wasn’t entirely expecting James to be called up, especially since the defender has only played 147 minutes of football this calendar year.

‘Yes and no,’ he answered when asked if he was surprised at the call-up. ‘I would always call Reece up no matter what if I was the head coach of the England national team so I’m not surprised.

‘Yesterday he was not match ready so let’s see what happens tomorrow. He comes now from nine weeks of injuries altogether, and we have to do late tests to see if he can even do full training today and be match ready for tomorrow, which is a big doubt. If not, it makes no sense for him to go.’

James is expected to be unavailable when the Blues face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday.