Chelsea striker Jackson out for up to two months

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson will be out for up to two months with a hamstring injury.

Jackson’s absence will leave the Blues short of options up front, with Marc Guiu also on the sidelines for a lengthy period.

Head coach Enzo Maresca initially believed Jackson’s injury was relatively minor.

However, Maresca revealed on Thursday morning that he now expects him to be unavailable until after March’s international break.

“Nico will be out until the international break and probably available after the international break,” he said.

“We knew it was a muscular problem but we didn’t know how important it was because of his reaction. We all thought it was not a big injury, but unfortunately, he had a scan and it will be around six to eight weeks.”

Christopher Nkunku is arguably the obvious choice as a striker while the others are sidelined, but Maresa has indicated he is considering other options.

“Christopher could be one of the solutions but not the only solution,” he said.

“I said since day one that Christopher is not a number nine. Christopher is an attacking midfielder, but we have used him as number nine to find a solution. We know very well that Christopher is not a proper number nine.

“We are going to try and find different solutions. For sure Pedro [Neto] or Noni [Madueke] or even Tyrique [George] can try and can be a solution for us. Jadon [Sancho] has a different kind of skill.

“When you don’t have a proper nine, yes you have to use a different type of number nine, but also you have to change a little bit the way you have to play. We will find a solution.”

Meanwhile, Maresca insisted that Reece James’ absence for the recent FA Cup tie against Brighton was pre-planned and the defender is not suffering from another injury.