Thomas Tuchel has explained his “difficult decision” to leave Arsenal winger Noni Madueke out of the latest England squad.

Despite having been one of Tuchel’s trusted men at the World Cup in the summer, Madueke was on Friday omitted for Nations League games against Croatia and Spain.

The snub comes after England team-mate Bukayo Saka’s quad injury had given Madueke a greater opportunity to impress for Arsenal on the right flank of late.

He has played more in recent weeks and scored important goals against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and Slavia Prague in the Champions League.

But despite call-ups for Arsenal team-mates Ezri Konsa, Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White and Eberechi Eze, Madueke was left out by England this time.

“It was a close call and a difficult decision not to bring Noni, because he got his minutes after Bukayo’s injury at Arsenal,” Tuchel said at a post-squad selection press conference at Wembley.

“He got some goals. It was very close. But also [in that position], we stuck with the group that we had [during the last international break] and give them our trust.”

White was injured during the last international window so not available for selection.

He was England’s only goalscorer in March, when he made his first appearances for the national team since leaving the 2022 World Cup squad in Qatar during Gareth Southgate’s tenure for personal reasons.

White was booed by some sections of the England fanbase during friendlies against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley, but Tuchel saw that as no reason to omit him from this month’s squad now the player is back fit.

“We were not happy about this,” Tuchel said on the boos for White, who also missed out on a World Cup place due to injury. “We could understand the disappointment of the fans, of course, with what had happened before. But I think this is expressed [by] now and should be a closed book.

“I think everyone could also see the investment of Ben and the quality of Ben and how he presented himself in the March camp. He did excellently, scored for us, and then committed a foul where we conceded a penalty.”

Tuchel continued: “When I speak to him, I always feel the hunger from him to come back. He missed the last camp. He is the standout position for Arsenal in a position where we struggle with injuries somehow.

“Trevoh Chalobah is not with us. That makes Jarell Quansah maybe half a full-back and half a centre-back.”