'Nicolas Jackson is an important player' - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has heaped praise on striker Nicolas Jackson after his performance in Chelsea’s 1-0 win against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night.

The 23-year-old striker returned to the Blues side for their win over Tottenham following six weeks out with a hamstring injury.

Enzo Fernandez scored the only goal of the game with a brilliant cross from Cole Palmer as the Blues secured a crucial win in the race for Champions League football next season.

The win was an important one for Maresca’s side, as the Blues claimed all three points while restoring their bragging rights for the second time in a row and for a second time this season.

Meanwhile, Jackson kept Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven occupied for the full 82 minutes he was on the pitch.

Jackson returned from his six-week injury, played 82 minutes in Chelsea’s 1-0 win against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur

And Maresca hailed the return of Jackson, telling Sky Sports:

“This game belongs to the players. You can have the best idea but if you don’t have the players (it doesn’t matter).

“Nico is an important player.”

“He runs in behind, and off the ball he presses everyone.

“With Nico, we are a different team. He’s a threat in behind, off the ball he is pressing everyone so we are a different team with Nico.”

The victory sees Chelsea move back up to fourth with eight games remaining in the Premier League, and Maresca was flattered by the performance from his side.

“The result is an important part because we are close to the end of the season,” he said. At the same time, we try to achieve the result playing in the way we want to play.

“At some moments, the team was very good, then we don’t work every day, we don’t like to finish the game like we did in the last five minutes. If we want to become an important team, we need to win in a dirty way, ugly way and [I’m] quite happy.

“Overall, I think it was a very good performance, I think we deserved to win the game we created enough chances already in the first half to score. In the last 10 minutes I think the team showed effort, togetherness, spirit and it’s something that we need.

“If you measure on the result then for sure if we achieve Champions League is an important thing but from my point of view, I try to see how we improve day by day and I can see, since the first day, I think the team is getting better and better.”