Thomas Tuchel has insisted there is "no problem" between him and Jude Bellingham but warned his stars there are no guarantees anyone will be selected for England.
Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were the big names to miss out on Friday as Tuchel named his England squad ahead of a friendly against Wales and a World Cup qualifier in Latvia later this month.
Tuchel predominantly stuck with the group that beat Andorra and hammered Serbia 5-0 in Belgrade during September's international break with Bukayo Saka replacing Arsenal teammate Noni Madueke through injury.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek kept his place after replacing Adam Wharton who withdrew last month through injury while Jarell Quansah was also retained as Tino Livramento is ruled out through injury.
But the focus was inevitably on Bellingham, who was voted England's Player of the Year on Thursday but made his first appearance of the season on Sept. 20 following shoulder surgery.
The 22-year-old has only made one start across four outings in total but was still expected to be included as Tuchel seeks to put an awkward situation behind him, having claimed in June that his mother found some of Bellingham's behaviour "repulsive" as part of a wider discussion on his character.
The England boss later apologised and speaking at Wembley on Friday, Tuchel was asked directly whether there was a lingering problem between himself and Bellingham.
"No, there is also no problem between me and Phil Foden, there is no problem between me and Jack Grealish," Tuchel said.
"Very special players. Phil is back to influencing games, deciding games for Manchester City. Jack is very close to being the best version of himself -- a very special player, a very special character. There is no problem at all. There is no personal problem in the nomination.
"I understand the focus on Jude of course. First of all, he is a very special player. And for special players there can always be special rules. I get this. But for this camp we decided that we stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team.
"That applies also then for Jude, he deserves always to be in camp. I think there is an extra layer on top of it, the situation that he has not gathered full rhythm yet at Real Madrid. He is back in the team.
"He hasn't finished one full match until now. He has only started one match so he is at the moment in the period where he gets his rhythm, where he gets back to full strength. There is this extra layer into the decision but the decision stays.
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"He wanted to be called up. We had a phone call. There was no issue from that. He just lacks rhythm."
Pushed on whether England could win a World Cup without Bellingham, Tuchel continued: "Do I believe we are a stronger team with Jude? Yes? Is he one of the best players in the world in midfield? Yes.
"But I told you last time when he was injured what will we do if a player like Jude is injured before the World Cup? Do we then cancel? Do we not travel? This is a team sport. We have to fund solutions. It can never be the solution to depend on one player in football."
Later on Friday, Madrid boss Xabi Alonso said he expects Bellingham to return to the national team for the next round of fixtures.
"I've spoken with [Bellingham]," Alonso said. "Tuchel had told him. It's a question of time for him to be back in the squad, he'll be in the next one.
"Jude is getting better, little by little, after the injury and he wants to contribute. It's a matter of time for him to get back to his level."
Meanwhile, Tuchel admitted that Myles Lewis-Skelly's lack of game-time at Arsenal -- he has started just two games this season -- could count against him as the battle for a place in England's World Cup intensifies, insisting that nobody was safe.
"100% there are no guarantees," he said. "You can have a tough spell in your club but you can be reselected because of what you did with us and for us. This is possible and it can also be the other way around. It may be a tough camp for you but you are performing outstanding. Every case stays individual.
"But if we say the competition is on, then the competition is on. We cannot say that for 80% of the squad the competition is on but for 20% it is not on. It is on.
"Maybe it becomes a problem for him [Lewis-Skelly], yeah. To just be a good citizen in camp will not be enough over the course of the year. He was a very good player in camp, a very good teammate in camp. [But] you have to perform at club level on a regular basis."
Information from ESPN's Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.