Vicente Del Bosque has no qualms naming Gerard Pique in the Spain squad despite the centre-back losing his Barcelona place.
Pique was left out of the last Spain squad due to injury, although he appeared to contradict the Spain staff and insist he was fit.
But despite being second choice at club level behind the pairing of Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu, Pique has been included in the group to play Slovakia and Luxembourg.
“We just consider sporting reasons,” Del Bosque replied when asked why Pique was recalled, AS reports.
“He’s been with us a long time, we value his status and he brings a lot to the team. We consider his participation to be appropriate and his hip has improved. He can be useful for us.
“The reality is there are many foreign defenders in the League. If we bring some players and not others it’s because we have confidence in them.
“But it’s true there is a deficit in the central position. It’s worrying because it used to be at full back but now we have seven or eight players for the positions.
“If Pique had been fit last time he would have been with us. I think the most important thing is we trust him and he has always been committed to the team.”
Del Bosque was asked if he felt it was a risk to name only three central defenders – Pique, Sergio Ramos and Raul Albiol – for the two games.
“We have solutions in case anything happens to any player,” he countered.
“We can solve any problems with the players in the squad.”
