The American returned from international duty late this week and has been handed a couple of days off before joining the squad in flying to Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup. Meanwhile, Tuchel is without an English trio who are continuing their injury rehabilitation at various stages.

‘We have no Reece James, no Ben Chilwell and no Ruben Loftus-Cheek, they are still injured,’ said the boss at his usual pre-match media briefing via video link from Cobham.

‘Everybody else has been training except Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic so it was a good training week. It’s very rare that we have four training sessions to prepare a match and it’s nice to have a bit more physical input than normal.

‘We feel well-prepared and it’s also necessary because we respect the competition and our opponent tomorrow. For them, it’s a unique game where they have nothing to lose.’

Pulisic played for the USA national team in sub-zero temperatures in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time, with the thermometer dropping to as low as minus 16C at one stage in Minnesota. The forward came off the bench to score in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win against Honduras and Tuchel admits his physical condition will be monitored closely in the coming days.

‘I was just made aware today about the temperature so it will be quite an adaptation for him to go from minus 16C to plus 24C in Abu Dhabi,’ he revealed.

‘Don’t forget that Christian and Thiago Silva did not have the break so he will arrive tomorrow with us to travel to Abu Dhabi and we will see how he adapts to this extreme change.’

One player set to miss the trip is defender James who, although making good progress from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since late December, still hasn’t returned to team training at Cobham.

‘He needs some time in team training to get the rhythm and confidence back so he won’t travel with us tomorrow,’ added Tuchel.

‘I’ve been a manager for too long to have a feeling for injuries and not to get over-excited by pure dates that are maybe out there. I know we can have setbacks and it can take long sometimes. The injury was a big one and I felt that straightaway so from there you know we need to be patient.

‘Reece also caught the flu and this was a setback in the last week so he had lost days in the process of coming back with the team. We want him back on the pitch tomorrow but we are patient. I know everyone is working hard, Reece is working hard, and he’s in the best hands.’

Finally, Tuchel was asked to provide an assessment on Chelsea’s activity in the January transfer window, which was limited.

There were deadline day links with Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, who the German worked with at Borussia Dortmund, but Tuchel insisted that was just speculation.

‘I’m very satisfied because it was a calm window and to be calm is always the best thing,’ he stated. ‘We were open for things but I did not have any contact with Ousmane. There was nothing between us but there is no frustration.

'I know what kind of quality we would need to add to a strong group. We trust in the group we have and it’s my job to find solutions when we have injuries.’