Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery has confirmed that midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak asked to play with the French champions' reserve side again this weekend.
Speaking at his prematch news conference ahead of Sunday's Ligue 1 clash at home to Toulouse, the Spanish coach revealed the Poland international had not made the squad and requested to play with the reserves to continue to build up his match fitness.
Krychowiak featured for the reserves on Saturday afternoon and was disappointing as PSG slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Bergerac Perigord FC.
"Grzegorz has asked to play with the CFA side [reserves]," Emery told journalists at Camp des Loges on Saturday. "I have spoken with him and he has trained well since recovering from his injury. However, there is competition for places.
"Grzegorz was not called up to the squad, so he preferred to play with the CFA side. He wants to be ready for future matches."
Emery elaborated a little on the competition Krychowiak faces for a place in PSG's starting midfield and the Basque emphasised that Adrien Rabiot, who was superb in the 4-0 thumping of Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, is ahead of the Pole in the pecking order.
"The defensive midfield position, just in front of the defence, is a very specific role and not every player is capable of playing there," Emery said when questioned on where Krychowiak fits into his plans. "It is a very demanding position.
"Adrien has the ability to play in this role, even if he is very young has still has room for improvement. I think Adrien can add something playing in this position and it is very positive for him to be so versatile."
As far as squad news ahead of Toulouse is concerned, Emery revealed 20 players have been called up for the match and that captain Thiago Silva and Angel Di Maria are both out with muscular injuries.
Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti and Thomas Meunier are all worries ahead of the game but did at least train on Saturday, while Javier Pastore is in the party.
"We have called up 20 players," Emery stated. "Thiago and Angel will continue to work because they have muscular injuries. "Many changes against Toulouse? There are some doubts. Thomas, Marco and Edinson have trained today, so we will speak with the medical staff ahead of the match about them.
"There will be some changes. We will be relying mainly on those who are ready to play. Javier is in the squad. He came on for 10 minutes on Tuesday. Perhaps he will be able to build on that here."
It is not certain January signing Goncalo Guedes will be in the final squad, though, with Emery underlining the Portugal international's need to be patient.
"What does Goncalo [Guedes] need to get his PSG career started? Patience," replied Emery. "He is a young player and has a lot of desire. I have asked him to be patient and little by little he will integrate into the team."
After AS Monaco's 1-1 draw away at SC Bastia on Friday, PSG have the chance to move to within a point of Leonardo Jardim's men at the Ligue 1 summit on Sunday.