Our four-game run without a win in the Premier League has coincided with Jackson’s relatively lean spell in front of goal. Prior to that, he had netted nine goals in 15 league appearances, a figure Maresca notes would have been higher if he took spot-kicks for the Blues, like strikers often do at other clubs.

The head coach offered encouragement to Jackson when asked about the Senegalese at his press conference today, explaining why he has been so pleased with the 23-year-old's output so far this season.

‘He has to continue to work in the way he is working,’ said Maresca.

‘We are completely happy with Nicolas and don’t judge him just because of goals, we judge him on different things.

‘I spoke to Nicolas a few days ago. Last season he scored 14 goals in the Premier League without a penalty. [Erling] Haaland [is on] penalties, [Mohamed] Salah penalties, [Cole] Palmer penalties - if you score 14 or 15 goals in the Premier League and add five penalties, then he is a 20-goal-a-season striker. This season, he has scored nine and with a few penalties he could be close to 13 or 14.

‘We are completely happy and he has to continue in the way he is working and for sure he is going to score goals,’ concluded Maresca.

‘He has also been little bit unlucky because in all the games he didn’t score, he had chances to score. Sometimes you don’t score, so he has to continue in the same way.’