Jack Grealish has revealed what Thomas Tuchel told him as he addressed his latest England snub for the first time.
Despite a fine run of form at Everton which saw him named Premier League Player of the Month for August, Grealish was left out of Tuchel's squad for games against Wales and Latvia.
Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Adam Wharton also missed out for the upcoming fixtures.
His last appearance for his first country was nearly a year ago against Finland in the Nations League and the former Aston Villa man is struggling to earn a recall.
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Ahead of Everton's visit of Crystal Palace on Sunday, Grealish was was asked by former teammate Micah Richards about being left out once again and offered an honest response.
"First of all you want to play well for your club because that's what we do every week but obviously you want to be in the England squad," Grealish said on Sky Sports.
"But I do understand it. I spoke to the manager and I understand there's a lot of competition, especially in that left wing spot at the moment - Rashy's [Marcus Rashford] flying, [Eberechi] Eze, Anthony Gordon - everyone's doing so well.
"I can't really complain, it is what it is and hopefully I can keep performing and influencing games."
In his press conference, Tuchel had described Grealish as "a very special player" who is "very close to being the best version of himself".
But he and his staff didn't want to make any changes from the last training camp, electing to "keep with the straightforward decision of inviting the same group".
Bukayo Saka replacing the injured Noni Madueke is the only change from the last squad, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jarell Quansah named after coming in as late replacements last time out.
Everton had a swift response to Grealish not making the cut, quickly retweeting a graphic which showed he had created more chances than any other player in the Premier League going into the latest matchday.
Grealish responded by the sharing the club's reel of his best bits on his Instagram story.
Topics: Jack Grealish, Everton, Thomas Tuchel
Josh Lawless