Tuchel admits being under pressure because of Timo Werner

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits he's under pressure to get Timo Werner firing.

Werner has managed just one goal for Chelsea since November - and that was against lowly Morecambe in the FA Cup.

Tuchel said: “At the moment, why I did not use him on Wednesday, I see his face is a bit closed and the weight is on his shoulders. He cares a lot and that shows he has a fantastic character.

“Sometimes as a striker it does not help if you care a lot. Sometimes as a striker it's better to not care at all. But he's not that guy. He cares and he's not happy with himself and with the way things went lately.

“Right now it's important to rebuild his trust in himself and to find a smile on his face and stop doubting too much. It's my job to do this, to help him with this and then to find also a position where we can use his strengths."

Tuchel also revealed that Werner may be more effective as a counter-attacking force, a front runner rather than a striker who leads the line against opponents who sit deep and defend.

He added: “From his profile, as a given, I would say he prefers to have space. That's clear because he's super-fast and he likes to play in the last line, very, very, very high up, but a little bit more to the left, half-open to the goal and to receive the balls into the open space. This is a given.

“Can we develop movements, patterns, behaviour to use his quality in narrow spaces? That's my job and I'm absolutely convinced (we can) because the guy is open, the guy is friendly and the guy is eager to learn.

“There will be games – on Wednesday we had 80 per cent ball possession – and it felt like we played 90 per cent of the match in the last 30 metres – but there are movements to create with him that he can help us, I am sure of that."