Brightonvs.Chelsea

Earlier this month, the forward sustained a hamstring injury during the 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League.

As a result, the Senegal international was left out against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup, Maresca seemingly choosing to take no risks on his fitness rather than there being an expectation of a long-term absence.

However, it emerged on Wednesday night that the 23-year-old was facing the prospect of missing the busy period between now and the start of April.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Maresca confirmed to the media that Jackson would spent that time on the sidelines, as well as confirming that there was no change with other key players.

What did Maresca say on Jackson?

Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Marc Guiu all remain in the treatment ahead of Friday's return to Brighton in the Premier League.

As quoted by football.london, Maresca said: "As you already know, Nico will be out until the international break; probably available after the international break.

"Marc Guiu also will be out for a while. Romeo Lavia is in the process to be back with us. Benoit Badiashile exactly the same and Wes Fofana started to work with us two days ago - that means he will need two or three weeks to be 100% fit but at least he has started to work with us."

On the severity of Jackson's injury, the Italian added: "We knew it was a muscular problem but we didn't know how important it was.

"His reaction was quite good so we all thought that was not a big injury but unfortunately he had the scan a few days ago and it was important one. He will be around six or eight weeks."

A pivotal moment in Chelsea's season

Despite the criticism that Jackson receives for the amount of chances that he misses, he is an integral part to Maresca's preferred style of play.

Furthermore, Jackson has contributed 26 goals and 11 assists from his 68 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, none of his strikes coming from set pieces.

With there no sign of Guiu returning anytime soon, responsibility is likely to fall to Christopher Nkunku, who has made minimal impact in Premier League games and domestic cup ties against top-flight opposition.

Maresca could look to move Cole Palmer into a false nine role, something that would negatively impact on the rest of the team in terms of chances being created.

Written by

Darren Plant