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Thomas Tuchel won't tolerate any of his Chelsea players not being sharp, and insists they have to earn and fight for their place in the side. 

Chelsea got back to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-1 win against Southampton in the Premier League, ending a run of two straight defeats against Manchester City and Juventus. 

Tuchel made five changes against the Saints. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi were two of those to come into the starting XI, as did Trevoh Chalobah who got on the scoresheet. 

It included the dropping of Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech. Both players have been short of their expected form and were subsequently left on the bench and unused on Saturday afternoon. 

Tuchel's side now head into a two-week international break, before returning to face Brentford in a London derby. 

But the Chelsea head coach has issued his message to his side to tell them he expects them to be sharp in every game, otherwise they will not be selected.

"At a club like Chelsea, you need to be sharp every three days and fight for your place. This is what is going on," Tuchel told the media in his post-match press conference. 

Tuchel will continue to help and support his players, discussing Havertz and Ziyech in particular, but will only select his players based on form not what the name on the back of the shirt says. 

He added: "They have maybe lost a bit of belief, confidence, whatever. We will not stop trying to boost them. Nobody is angry at them and nobody has major concerns, but we have to pay attention to the actual form."

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This article first appeared on FanNation Absolute Chelsea and was syndicated with permission.

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