Chelsea's press chief intervened during Thomas Tuchel's press conference today as he discussed Andreas Christensen's withdrawal from the squad for Saturday's FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool.

The Dane's departure from the team hotel on Saturday morning left his team-mates perplexed and shocked.

Speaking about the incident ahead of Chelsea's clash with Leicester, Tuchel said: "Andreas came the morning of the match to tell me he's not ready.

"He had his reasons, they stay private and confidential. It was not the first time as you can see. Over the last weeks that we had the same situations.

"We thought that we are in a good progression. He played very strong in the match before the final. The conversation took place and we have to respect it. He still has our support but for tomorrow we're not sure."

Tuchel defended his player though, insisting that it was not the case that the player had refused to take to the pitch.

"I don't think that it's that he does not want to play. There is a big difference," he added.

"I don't know the reason but he is always very nervous. I don't know what to say. We had to accept it and we will accept it.

"I try the best I can to not take things personally. I still believe that Andreas wanted to play and I still believe that he could.

"He struggled over the last weeks as you can see when he was not in the squad, although he was physically available. So that was not completely out of the blue sky.

"It was not the ideal situation for us because we thought we had prepared him in the best way possible in the game against Leeds. He is a key player and if you arrive in a final you want your best players available and this was not the case."

Shortly afterwards, the Chelsea press officer put a stop to further questions on Christensen.