With a late decision required over Nicolas Jackson's fitness and Marc Guiu ruled out of our trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, Blues head coach Enzo Maresca has discussed his alternative attacking options for our FA Cup fourth-round tie.
Jackson and Guiu sustained their injuries in our victory over West Ham United on Monday evening. The former was forced off with a hamstring issue early in the second half of the 2-1 win while Guiu sustained a muscular problem and was helped down the tunnel after the full-time whistle.
Guiu is ruled out of this evening's game and whether Jackson is fit remains to be seen. However, when asked if their potential absences could leave the Blues short in attack, Maresca insisted he has plenty of choices at his disposal to spearhead our frontline.
‘We have players,’ said Enzo on Friday. ‘Christo has played already as a No.9. I have had in the past Cole playing as a No,9. And we can find some different solutions.
‘It’s a bit unlucky our two strikers got injuries in the same game. Fortunately, the Nico one looks quite good and we haven’t decided on anything because we are still waiting to see about Nico. From there we start to think about different options.’
One of those options could be Nkunku, who has featured 30 times for the Blues this season and scored 13 goals. Maresca accepts the France international's best role is off the striker, but he says there are other positions Nkunku can fill in the Blues attack.
‘We have had many conversations with Christo,’ Maresca continued. ‘He played the first game of the season in the winger position, then he played as a No.9, and in some games he has played as a No.10.
‘We all agree that Christo’s perfect position is the No.10 position, but I’ve said many times we use Cole as a No.10 and if Christo wants to play just as a No.10 – or if Joao [Felix] wants to play just as a No.10 – they are going to struggle [for minutes]. So sometimes they have to adapt to play in different positions.
‘The reason why Christo is here is because we are convinced that he is a great player, a fantastic player, and he is going to help us until the end.’
Maresca finished with words of support for Guiu and explained why the teenage striker will play an important role for the Blues once he has recovered from his injury.
'I can see day by day that he is growing, he is improving, getting better,' said Maresca. ‘It’s a shame now, unfortunately, he is injured but for sure the future will be 100 per cent with him because he’s a very good player.’