Thomas Tuchel said he left Ross Barkley out of the squad against Tottenham because Chelsea had so many other options.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tiemoue Bakayoko were instead included for the pre-season friendly at Stamford Bridge, which ended in 2-2 draw.
Midfielder Barkley faces an uncertain future and does not appear to be in Blues boss Tuchel’s first-team plans for the coming season.
Asked if Barkley was injured or simply not selected, Tuchel said: “It was a non-selection. We had 42 players in the building. From there on we had to take some decisions.
“Ross had a chance to play one half against Arsenal - the same with Danny Drinkwater.
“We had the impression that Ruben deserves to be on the pitch again after the Arsenal game and we wanted to give Bakayoko the chance to play.
“Everybody should at least have the chance to show up in a game. So that’s why - it was a matter of selection.”
Tuchel also praised Trevoh Chalobah for his performance - and refused to be drawn on the issue of Chelsea’s bid to sign Romelu Lukaku.