THOMAS TUCHEL insisted Jude Bellingham’s omission from the England squad is due to the midfielder’s “lack of rhythm” and is nothing personal.

The 22-year-old missed September’s camp following shoulder surgery and has since played four matches for Real Madrid, starting only one.

Bellingham is again absent from this month’s double-header with games against Wales and Latvia, but Tuchel revealed the decision was made based on fitness alone.

“I understand your focus on Jude. First of all he’s a very special player and for special players there can be special rules, I get this,” Tuchel said.

“But for this camp we decided that we stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team. That applies also for Jude, he deserves always to be in camp.

“I think on top of it there’s the situation that he has not fully gathered rhythm yet at Real Madrid. He’s back in the team, he hasn’t finished one full match until now, he has only started one match.

“He wanted to be called up, we had a phone call, there was no issue from that side.”

Asked if there is any problem between him and Bellingham, Tuchel added: “No, there is also no problem between me and Phil Foden, there is also no problem between me and Jack Grealish. Very special players.”

Bukayo Saka has returned after missing September’s internationals with a hamstring issue, but Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Tino Livramento are ruled out with injury.

Along with Bellingham, other notable absentees from October’s camp are Grealish and Foden, who have impressed for their clubs this season.

Asked about the duo, Tuchel emphasised his desire to stick with players who had featured in September when England recorded World Cup qualifying wins over Andorra and, impressively, Serbia.

“Keep on pushing. It is a decision for this camp, it was the best camp in terms of team spirit and team work, this was the best camp so far,” Tuchel said.

“We decided to invite the same group of players to make more stable what we built on.

“Jack is in a very good moment, Phil is in a very good moment. Adam Wharton deserves to be with us, Curtis Jones gets his minutes, Trevoh Chalobah plays.

“So there are some players who deserve to be with us. Cole Palmer is injured, a very special player and character who decides matches and can be a special player for us.

“This will always be like this in any single nomination, we have cases that can be endlessly discussed and can be decided in any way.

“For this camp, we wanted to make it a straightforward decision and stay with the same group because the group deserves to be in camp on the basis of what they did in the last camp.”