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Chelsea boss Tuchel admits Werner ruled himself out of FA Cup final appearance

 


Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits Timo Werner ruled himself out of coming onto the pitch during their FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool.

Chelsea fans were stunned that £52million Werner was not among the six substitutes used by Tuchel in an energy-sapping 120 minutes at Wembley that ended 0-0 before Liverpool won 6-5 on penalties.

Another star Germany forward Kai Havertz, who scored the winner in last season's Champions League final. wasn't even included in the Chelsea 18 because of another hamstring injury.

"Kai did not train because of hamstring problems and we thought he would injure himself," said Tuchel, whose side have now been beaten in the last three FA Cup finals.

"We did a test on Saturday morning but it was not better. Then Timo felt uncomfortable in the warm-up and said he could not play. A hamstring as well. We had no options."

In the end, Tuchel sent on midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek to play up front in extra-time before he was replaced himself 15 minutes later so Ross Barkley could take a penalty in the shoot out.

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