England: Thomas Tuchel sends blunt message to Trent Alexander-Arnold over 'unfair' squad exclusion | OneFootball

The Real Madrid full-back’s chances of going to the World Cup appear slim

Thomas Tuchel has told Trent Alexander-Arnold he "just has to accept" his England exclusion, despite admitting the decision was potentially unfair.

Alexander-Arnold has effectively been demoted to seventh-choice right-back for his country in a major blow to his hopes of going to the World Cup this summer.

The England boss could also use Ezri Konsa at full-back and even when Quansah pulled out of the squad, it was Ben White who get called up rather than Alexander-Arnold.

"I know that it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out," Tuchel said.

"We had a call. I tried to explain the situation but he just has to accept it."

Thomas Tuchel has decided to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold out of his latest England squad

James Manning/PA Wire

Alexander-Arnold has made just one appearance for England since Tuchel took charge. That was a cameo off the bench against Andorra in June last year, in a match Tuchel started Curtis Jones at right-back.

His latest snub means that Alexander-Arnold has been left out of four successive squads since then, despite returning from injury to become a regular for Real Madrid.

Even with James injured and his former right-back rivals Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier no longer in the picture, Alexander-Arnold remains unable to nail down a place in the England side.

"Just a choice," Tuchel explained.

"A sportive choice and a difficult choice and maybe a hard choice. Maybe to a certain degree unfair but these choices have to be made.

"The choice was for Ben White because I saw him play here in the cup final against Man City. He played the Champions League match before and was straight away back to his old self.

"It was a chance for me to meet him in person, see how he interacts with the group. I think I know what Trent gives us so the choice was for Ben and for Tino Livramento on the right side.

"To stick with the guys who actually had the good camps with us in September, October, November. They also need the minutes, there are a lot of players in this position - Djed Spence as well - who fight for a ticket. I didn't want to leave them out."