Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says he hauled off substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi as he wasn’t happy with his “energy or attitude”.
Hudson-Odoi replaced Abraham at half-time, but lasted a little over 30 minutes before himself being replaced by Hakim Ziyech in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Tuchel confirmed after the game that Hudson-Odoi had not picked up an injury, and instead was left unimpressed by what he saw on the pitch.
“I am not concerned about Tammy Abraham, it was not about the injury, it was hard for him to show his quality,” he told BT Sport. “He could not put his stamp in this game so we changed the formation.
“We brought in Hudson-Odoi but I was not happy with his attitude, energy and counter-pressing. I took him off and we demand 100%, I feel he is not in the right shape to help us.
“It was a hard decision but tomorrow it is forgotten and he has all possibilities to start against Atletico Madrid. It is always a big week so it is mixed feelings at the moment, it will not be easier to score against Atletico.”
In his post-match press conference, Tuchel underlined that there would be no lasting impact on his decision and does not expect Hudson-Odoi’s confidence to be hit.
“No, absolutely not,” he said. “Everyone has to understand that I make decisions to win games and there is no problem that he makes mistakes, has a bad game, or does a miss, but we can’t lack energy even 10% or 5%. It’s not possible.
“I know what he can give, it’s why I trust him a lot. That will not change. He knows exactly what I demand from him and when he doesn’t reach this level, maybe it means a hard decision like today. There is no need to think in old-fashioned terms that this is the worst thing that can ever happen, no. Tomorrow it’s already over and maybe he starts against Atletico if we need his qualities.
“But then he needs to be trustworthy and reliable and this is the next step for him. He’s a bit in trouble when he comes off the bench, it was like this against Sheffield [United] and today. So it’s on him to improve because we need him in some games from the bench, to hang in a different way.
“So now it’s forgotten and he has step up, learn from it, swallow it, and there’s no problem.”