Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has defended Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang over criticisms about his winning mentality.

The Arsenal skipper has been the victim of abuse from supporters who believe he goes missing in big games.

But Tuchel, who managed Aubameyang at Borussia Dortmund, says it is unfair to put the onus on the 31-year-old and believes he must be in a 'top squad' to win trophies.

Asked if he expected the Gabon international to win more in his career, the Chelsea manager said: "Yeah, because he is a winner, he is a winner. We won the cup together in Dortmund.

"I never had a feeling that he lacks a certain of edge of mentality when you want to win stuff.

"But clearly he cannot do it alone and he also needs a top squad to play in to compete for the highest level.

"But I can just say that my experiences with Auba, for two years, you could push him to the limit and he was always up for a challenge, always open to the next step, always open to stay hungry, was never lazy, never satisfied with one goal, two goals, always going for a third.

"He always looked to the next game, to reach the next level and so I had a strong feeling that he is a real winner and you can rely on him.

"He was the top goalscorer in the Premier league because I was in Germany. It's quite the career that he had. I absolutely don't want to speak about his time in Arsenal because that would not be correct."

On Aubameyang's training attitude, Tuchel continued: "I think he did not miss one single training in two years. Maybe he arrived five minutes late on the training ground, that can happen with him! But if he does this, he is in a hurry, he excuses, he feels sorry, he has still a smile on his face.

"He was pretty much the only one, so when we wanted him to be on time, we told him the meeting was 10.45am when the meeting was 11am so there was a good chance he would be there with everyone else.

"You could hear the car from far away. You could hear him from a kilometre away, we could prepare everything, start the video because he will arrive soon!

"I don't know and I still don't know how he managed to keep the driving licence in his pocket because from the sound of the car, I don't know if he was always on the speed limit.

"That's him. It's hard to be really mad with the guy because he comes with a big smile, he has a big heart and gives an excuse to everybody and you could accept to have one or two guys like this in the team.

"It's not the biggest problem. But don't forget that he was also a top, top professional who never missed any training session, never sneaked off the training pitch one minute early or the opposite because he was always dressed and ready for training."

Tuchel added: "We still are in touch from time to time and exchange messages when some of us has a big win. In some way, he will still always be my player and feels like he will always be my player, so you want him to succeed and have a good time wherever they are."