Antonio Rudiger has dismissed the idea making the rounds that he is benefiting from the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea manager after languishing on the club’s bench under Frank Lampard.

It was Lampard’s departure almost three weeks ago that paved the way for Thomas Tuchel’s arrival. The former Borussia Dortmund and PSG manager is unbeaten in the Premier League so far, winning his last three matches.

Tuchel adds to a growing German contingent at Chelsea, including Rudiger, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. But for the defender, their shared nationality does not come into his thinking.

“That doesn’t do anything because at the end of the day, the job you have to do on the pitch it is not about sympathy, we are professionals, you have to deliver and earn your spot,” Rudiger told Sky Sports.

The Germany international reveals how he fought for his place at Chelsea after he almost left the club.

“I’m a competitor, I want to play. Obviously it is frustrating and it was the first time in my career that I had this type of situation,” he said.

“I just said to myself ‘work, try hard to get back into the first team’. Now I can say I’m receiving the good from the hard work that I did before.”

Funnily enough, Rudiger’s first Premier League appearance this season was against Newcastle in a 2-0 victory at St James’ Park in November. In the previous eight games, he had an even split of being an unused substitute and not being included in the matchday squad at all.

Now, the Germany international has started in seven of the last eight Premier League games for Chelsea, adding to appearances in the FA Cup and Europa League.

“You just have to get ready,” Rudiger explained. “You have to always make yourself available and always be ready in your mindset. Maybe in the future – I hope not, but this is football – someone gets injured and maybe they are going to say your name and you have to be up there and ready.

“This is how I prepare for every game. Although maybe you know you’re not playing because you can see it through the training, but in my head, I always prepared like I was going to play so that I’m always ready in my mind.

“Inside myself, I was always calm and relaxed, I’ll be very honest. I was not going crazy because I was not playing at the beginning and when you’re not in the squad, you think ‘oh wow, what’s happening?’

“But then suddenly I was back in the team and got some games. From that moment on, my head was ‘I’m staying here at Chelsea and trying to fight for my spot’. In the last games of Frank Lampard, I was featuring even more.

“Lampard in or out, I would have stayed anyway.”

While Rudiger decided to stick with Chelsea this season, his current deal only has 18 months left to run. Could there be a new contract on the cards?

“The thing is I cannot give myself a new contract,” Rudiger said.

“The talks have to come from the board, from Marina [Granovskaia], I’m very calm when it comes to that.”