Tuchel says Lewis Hall was benched after ‘injury scare’ as England lose 3-2 to Spain

Tuchel explained that Hall "missed some training sessions with a bit of an injury scare," and that was the reason he was reluctant to start him. Tuchel added that Hall "trained well at the end of the week but he was out of training at the beginning of the week, so we just didn't want to take any risk because there was a lot of high speed running and defending to do."

Tuchel confirmed Hall remains under consideration at left-back: "Lewis is always in our discussions at the left-back position, he is the one who actually plays left-back for his club, Myles [Lewis-Skelly] and Nico [O'Reilly] play many times in central midfield."

Implications for the rest of the international window

The England squad will play three more matches across a week and a half. Tuchel's comments indicate Hall could get opportunities once fit. The upcoming fixtures and dates in this window are:

• Czech Republic v England — Tuesday 29 September, 7:45pm kickoff
• Croatia v England — Saturday 3 October, 5:00pm kickoff
• England v Czech Republic — Tuesday 6 October, 7:45pm kickoff

Given the condensed schedule, Tuchel signaled caution about introducing a player who missed training early in camp. Tuchel also suggested Hall's club role as an out-and-out left-back factors into selection discussions, while Myles Lewis-Skelly and Nico O'Reilly have been used in midfield.

• Team sheets and pre-match training reports for the Prague match will indicate whether Hall is cleared to start.
• Tuchel's post-match and pre-match comments about player fitness will clarify Hall's role over the next two fixtures.
• Defensive selection and performance, particularly in response to the errors that cost England against Spain, will determine how quickly Hall is reintroduced if fit.

Tuchel's decision to keep Hall on the bench was precautionary: a short-term muscle issue kept Hall out of early training, and with high-intensity defending required and several fixtures to play, Tuchel opted for caution while keeping Hall available as an option once he completed later sessions.