Palmer misses too many England camps, says Tuchel

Sept 25 : England coach Thomas Tuchel said forward Cole Palmer had missed another chance to impress after withdrawing from the squad ahead of Saturday's Nations League opener against Spain with injury.

The Chelsea player, who was left out of England's World Cup squad earlier this year after an injury-hit campaign affected his form, returned to Tuchel's plans following a strong start to the season.

Palmer has scored four goals and provided two assists in seven appearances for Chelsea so far, earning a recall for Nations League fixtures against Spain, the Czech Republic and Croatia. However, the 24-year-old was forced to pull out of the squad with a muscle problem.

"It's another missed opportunity. He misses too many opportunities," Tuchel told reporters.

"I don't blame him for it, it's just a fact. He misses way too many camps with injuries.

"I only want to rely on what I personally witness and see within my team. For that you have to be in camp. If you are not in camp there is a next level to impress that you cannot achieve because you can only do it with me on the pitch and with us on the pitch. It is a missed opportunity."

Tuchel rejected suggestions they were managing the player's workload by letting him leave camp. 

The Chelsea attacker played the full 90 minutes in his side's defeat by Brentford before reporting for international duty.

"He plays with discomfort and pain and cannot play on the highest level with discomfort and pain," Tuchel said.

"Chelsea informed us. That is my understanding. We're not managing load.

"This is not an international break. It's a competitive environment where the players love to train and be together. That's what we created. We will never compromise on that.

"We will never let this feeling creep in that the players don't want to come. We focus on the guys who absolutely want to play for England."

The three-week international window is the first under FIFA's revised match calendar, which combines the traditional September and October breaks.

England begin their Nations League campaign against world champions Spain at Wembley on Saturday before travelling to Prague to face the Czech Republic on September 29.

Tuchel's side then take on Croatia in Rijeka on October 3 before hosting the Czechs at Wembley three nights later in Group A3.