England manager Thomas Tuchel says he has been "a degree unfair" on Trent Alexander-Arnold after excluding the Real Madrid right-back despite naming a 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
The matches at Wembley on Friday and Tuesday are the final opportunities for players to impress in an England shirt before Tuchel names his squad for the World Cup.
However, Alexander-Arnold's chances of selection for the tournament in north America appear slim as he not only missed out on the initial squad, but was also overlooked in favour of Arsenal's Ben White after Jarrell Quansah dropped out due to injury.
White has not played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup early and then making himself unavailable for selection under Tuchel's predecessor, Gareth Southgate.
"A sportive choice. Maybe a hard choice and maybe to a degree unfair," said Tuchel on Thursday when asked to explain the omission of former Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold.
"I know it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out. We had a call, I tried to explain the situation. He just has to accept it."
After an injury-hit start to his Madrid career, Alexander-Arnold has ousted Dani Carvajal to become a regular under Alvaro Arbeloa and played a starring role as the Spanish giants beat Manchester City to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
The decision to bring White back into the international fold instead has been criticised.
White reportedly had a falling out with Southgate's assistant Steve Holland which led to his England exile.
"Once I asked Ben if he would be ready to play for me and for England, he straightaway, without hesitation, said he would love to come back and was desperate to come back," added German boss Tuchel.
"The reaction came within seconds. It was very euphoric, very positive and very emotional about it. That showed me he really means it.
"The way he behaves and the way he has trained here in camp has been exceptional, very, very good. It shows his quality."
Tuchel has allowed 11 of his squad that are more certain of their World Cup place to skip the Uruguay clash, among them captain Harry Kane.
Tottenham's Dominic Solanke and Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will, therefore, have the chance to make their case to be Kane's understudy at the World Cup.
"It's important the two of them understand it's a big chance to be in camp without Harry, to compete for a real chance to start and get good quality minutes," said Tuchel.
"The question is if we are chasing a result do we really take Harry off? When is there a chance to be a sub for Harry? Or do we look for someone who will play with Harry? Or someone who is a good penalty taker?
"These are the questions we have to answer."