Thomas Tuchel insisted his “conscience is clear” as he faces backlash from Premier League bosses over injuries. Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott could be out for TWO MONTHS after playing with a tendon injury against Croatia on Saturday but Tuchel said he took “zero risk.”
Ezri Konsa has also gone back to Arsenal as he played against Croatia despite feeling “discomfort” throughout the Nations League campaign. Nico O’Reilly also left the camp because of injury and it is understood that Bournemouth were well aware that Scott had an issue - but England still played him. Scott was also desperate to play.
It has left England boss Tuchel in the firing line because of the demanding fixture list of four games in 11 days in this Nations League and he says he can understand why Bournemouth are upset over Scott. But when asked whether his conscience is clear, Tuchel said: “Yes, 100 per cent.
“There was zero risk-taking from our side, no awareness that there's any risk that something could happen like this. It's kind of a one-off. A strange one.
“Alex trained, both training sessions, before the match against Croatia fully. He did extra work after the training sessions. We knew that he was in treatment. But there were only green lights from himself, from the medics.
“When we asked him, when we were aware, that there is a slight discomfort throughout the match , we asked him if he wants to come off, he said no. After the match he said 'okay, was the right thing to do, but I could have played 90 minutes, I don't feel an injury.’
“And even on the day after, here before we did the scan, he felt that he's not injured. So it's a strange one. I can 100 percent understand that Bournemouth is not happy, and is sad, because they lose a key player.
“I can just say, from the moment that we took the decision to let him play, there was absolutely no risk whatsoever apparent to me or to our physical staff, that there was a risk of an injury. He finished both training sessions, he did individual work after the training sessions, it's a one off."