In an unfortunate turn of events, both our recognised centre-forwards suffered hamstring injuries during the same game, our 2-1 victory over West Ham United on February 3.

Maresca confirmed earlier today he expects Jackson to be out until after next month’s international break, while Guiu will be absent for ‘a little while’.

In the FA Cup loss at Brighton on Saturday, Maresca deployed Christopher Nkunku in a central striking position, one of several options the head coach is considering with the current absence of a recognised centre-forward.

‘Because of Nico and Marc’s situation, we are working and trying to find different solutions,’ Maresca said.

‘Christo could be one of the solutions, but it’s not the only solution. It can be Christo, as he played the last game, and also different kind of players. For sure when you don’t have a proper nine who can be a threat always, you have to change not only the nine, also a little bit the way you want to play.

‘I have said many times I consider Christo a very important player, and I have said since day one Christo is not a nine. Christo is an attacking midfielder, but we use him as a nine to find a solution.

‘Christo is a completely different player to Nico on and off the ball, so we probably need to adjust something because the skills of the players are different.’

With Nkunku considered more of a No.10, unsurprisingly the threat the France international poses is likely to be different to that of Jackson, whose high-intensity work on and off the ball has caused Premier League defences problems since his arrival in the summer of 2023.

Maresca continued: 'When you don’t have a proper nine, you probably need to use a different kind of nine, but also you have to change a little bit the way you want to play.

‘You cannot be direct. You need more linking because you don’t have a threat in behind, but we are going to find a solution.’