Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has challenged Timo Werner to fight for a starting role at Stamford Bridge amid the intense competition for spots in the final third of the field.

Werner will find it difficult to earn starts at centre-forward this term due to the return of Romelu Lukaku, but he has operated in a wider area for the Blues since his arrival from RB Leipzig.

Tuchel has insisted that the Germany international can play in the same side as Lukaku, and the club's head coach has challenged the alleged Bayern Munich target to fight for his spot.

"I am sure that we will find games and solutions where we play with both of them (Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku). We did already and Timo and Romelu can be a good fit together. Timo loves to play around a reference up front and Romelu is clearly our reference up front being a tall and physical player," Tuchel told reporters.

"The most important is he finds his rhythm and confidence and joy and makes his point and makes his way into the team. The players are in charge to take their positions and fight for their positions and once they have it to not give it away.

"We are very happy that he scored and played (for Germany in the international break) and on we go. We have not too many players but we have players with high quality and high ambition and Timo is clearly a guy that we count on and that is absolutely necessary we have him on high level."

Lukaku has been declared fit for Saturday's clash against Aston Villa following a minor thigh issue, and the Belgium international might again be supported by Kai Havertz and Mason Mount in a forward area. body check tags ::