Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has told Bild he does not want to discuss Mario Gotze's absence from the starting lineup in recent weeks.
Gotze, a 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, remained on the bench for the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 weekend win over RB Leipzig -- the second time in three games he had not been used.
BVB coach Thomas Tuchel opted to only make one change in attack against Leipzig, bringing on U.S. international Christian Pulisic for Ousmane Dembele.
But speaking to Bild, Watzke said: "Should we discuss who sits on the bench every weekend?
"If we have no injured players, there will always be cases of hardship."
Gotze returned to Dortmund after three years at Bayern Munich last summer but has played in only 16 of a possible 27 competitive matches, starting 14.
He has scored two and assisted a further two goals in all competitions.