Thomas Tuchel insists Reece James will not join up with the England squad for their October internationals despite his selection.
James suffered an ankle injury in Chelsea 's 1-0 loss to Manchester City last weekend but was named as part of Gareth Southgate 's 23-man roster.
The Three Lions will face Andorra and Hungary in two World Cup qualifiers this month but Tuchel has confirmed the right-back, who recently had his house broken into and Champions League winners' medal stolen, will not be involved.
"When I saw it, I thought maybe Reece was in the England water polo team," the German tactician joked in his press conference.
"Reece is training in the pool right now. I understood he was selected for the football team. This will not happen.
"My understanding is he will not go. It can only be a misunderstanding, nothing else."
Tuchel was asked if he was surprised about not being told and responded: "It's normal. Imagine if every coach called.
"I am very bad at answering calls anyway. The club is in touch."
One man who is in the England squad and fit again is Mason Mount but the Blues boss insists his side "need to be careful" with the midfielder, whose absence has seen Chelsea lose both games since the 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
Who can Southgate pick to replace James? Have your say below.
"It was not a long injury, and we are happy he is back. It’s obviously a given he is nominated in the England squad and he will give everything," the ex-Borussia Dortmund manager explained.
"We need to be careful. We took him out at half-time against Tottenham because he had a rough half, and everyone was talking about us being good in the second half when he wasn’t on the pitch. Suddenly he’s missing and now he’s the one."
He added: "It’s on single players. Of course we want to have Mason, and we know the energy he gives, and of course we miss him, but we cannot start reducing our performances to the players who are missing."
James' absence could mean a chance for a former Three Lions team-mate to fill in at wing-back when the Blues welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta's trouble handling Juventus in their defeat on Wednesday in the Champions League saw Callum Hudson-Odoi enter the fray in the second half alongside Ben Chilwell.
The latter has struggled for regular game time this season and has not been selected by Southgate for the qualifiers, with Tuchel admitting: "For him [Chilwell] it would be nice to be selected.
"He’s happy to play for England, he’s proud and he has the quality to play for England.
"He had a bit of a rough start, he was a bit unlucky. He has his own story like every player. I understand and for sure Chilly understands he has to earn it with minutes. He did not have too many minutes.
"We can understand why he wasn’t selected. It’s not a big drama and there is no need to worry," he noted. "Once he plays more minutes for us and plays with quality, he will have the chance to be selected."
