Chelsea striker plays "as a midfielder" claims his manager who praises his star

Today at 11:30 AM

Nicolas Jackson had another great game for Chelsea today, and it was the perfect chance for Enzo Maresca to praise him in the press conference after the game.

"For me, he is doing very well. I have said many times, since we started, he is working hard on the ball and off the ball. He is making an effort to understand the way we want to play," the Italian coach glowed when asked to talk about the in-form Senegal star.

"Sometimes we use him almost as a midfielder, dropping. Sometimes we use him attacking in behind. If you remember Brighton, or even today. It depends on the game-plan.

"We are very happy with the way Nico is playing on the ball but especially in the way he is playing off the ball – the way he is pressing. In this moment, we are very happy and we are sure he is going to get better game after game."

Jackson scored the opening goal, then spent the game running hard and helping the team as always. When it was time for a second, he was on hand to draw the save from Mads Hermansen that left the keeper sprawling which Enzo Fernandez snapped up on the rebound.

Jackson's improvement surprises everyone

We said from the moment Jackson arrived that we loved the raw materials he had, we just needed to see him work on the weak points of his game. Not only has he done that, he's improved more quickly than we ever would have thought possible.

Perhaps it was simply a case of him lacking a lot of senior experience before he got his big move, but we can't remember a player improving across the board in such a short space of time.

He's already among the league's top strikers, and it feels like he's still got more room to get even better.