Thomas Tuchel encourages 'patience' from Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has suggested that Trevoh Chalobah will receive playing time over the coming matches after an unexplained absence from the squad.

The 22-year-old has not received any game time since his 57-minute outing as a substitute against Lille on March 16, with five matches having now come and gone since that appearance.

Chalobah has also been left out of two of the last three matchday squads, including against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Nevertheless, Tuchel has hinted that the omission is not courtesy of an injury, instead insisting that it has simply been down to a preference of selecting other players.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Tuchel said: "They are hard decisions at the moment. Maybe he feels these decisions are against him but they are for other players. We recently had Reece James playing in his position in the back three because of his physicality and speed against key players on the left side from opponents.

"Trevoh played a lot and has had a very, very good season so far. He had a little dip in form some weeks ago but for many weeks he is back in full shape in training. We had a talk recently but I cannot prove with minutes and game minutes at the moment. But he is exactly at the level where he was at the beginning of the season.

"It's impressive because he overcame this kind of period where things felt a bit more difficult for him during the winter period. He had some mistakes, was not so comfortable on the pitch or reliable like used to be. Now he is back to full strength. He just needs to be patient.

"Thiago [Silva] is in full shape, Andreas Christensen is back from injury, Reece played in his position. These are the reasons. Pretty normal. For me, he is taking it very well, trains excellently. This is what we demand from him. I think he will see it with minutes in the next matches."

Chelsea face a hectic run of fixtures, playing Arsenal, West Ham United, Manchester United and Everton up to and including May 1.