(Reuters) - England manager Thomas Tuchel said he has never had any doubts about the quality of Reece James after the right back marked his first international start in two years by scoring the opener in Monday's 3-0 win over Latvia.
The 25-year-old set England on their way to a comfortable World Cup qualifying win at Wembley with a sublime first-half free kick as Tuchel picked up his second win in as many matches since taking charge.
James made his England debut in 2022 but has been limited to 17 caps due to a succession of injuries. An injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the door for James to return to the line-up under Tuchel, who coached James at Chelsea from 2021-2022.
"There cannot be any doubt about Reece's quality, it's the highest level," Tuchel told reporters. "We were in close contact in the last weeks.
"We were clear he'd trained without pause and if he didn't play it was the choice of the club, protecting him. We knew he was in a good space mentally.
"If you play a dominant match like today he can be, like in the last 20 (minutes), a hybrid midfielder and help to create an overload because he has the quality on the ball."
James has played just 14 matches in all competitions for Chelsea this season, with the club managing his minutes given his injury problems.
"I know the quality he has in that foot — it's amazing. He has every right to be happy and proud of his performance. He's in excellent shape," Tuchel said.
"When we called him up he hadn't had many games but it wasn't due to injury, they were just taking care and managing him. He looks sharp and in shape."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
