The Chelsea head coach was speaking via video link at his pre-match press conference prior to afternoon training at Cobham.

There was good news on Christensen, who has missed the past three matches with a muscle injury, as Tuchel reported the Dane had completed Sunday’s session and could feature against the Seagulls. Mateo Kovacic, however, remains sidelined.

‘I expect Andreas to be back and to be available,’ said Tuchel. ‘He did a very good training session yesterday and I hope this will continue today.

‘With Thiago it’s a bit different, not because of injury but maybe because of acute overload after his injury with the two games. He’s not injured but we have to see if it makes sense that he starts again.

‘I think and I hope that it’s only Kova we have out with injury.’

Tuchel was asked whether Tammy Abraham should be concerned about his Chelsea future having not featured since mid-February…

‘Everybody is concerned when they’re not in the squad but it’s never an easy decision for me to take. I have a lot of sympathy for him and I can understand that he is worried and sad and maybe angry with me when I make these decisions.

‘Sometimes we spend almost an hour talking after the last training which decisions to take and which players we have to leave at home because it’s thin margins which decide.

‘Tammy has had this decision now a few times against him which is never personal but this is life at Chelsea sometimes as a player. I hope that he does not get lost in too many thoughts because he knows not to be too concerned about his situation.

‘Everything he can do is stay focused and stay with belief because the situation for a striker can change in minutes. We have an important training coming up and my decisions [for tomorrow] are not made yet.’

He also reflected on Jose Mourinho’s departure as Tottenham manager earlier in the day…

‘More or less I’m always a little bit surprised when it happens because we are all competitors and we all try to beat each other but in the end we wish that every manager has a good atmosphere to work in.

‘If it happens, it never feels good as another manager, but it’s clearly also not my job to comment on that. Everybody fights hard for results and when a big decision like this happens, it was a surprise today. I honestly did not see it coming.’