Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has come to Nicolas Jackson's defense this week.

The centre forward was given a heavy dose of criticism by Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.

With the former England striker believing Jackson is simply not good enough to head the line for the Blues, his Argentine head coach defended him.

Asked about Shearer's comments, Pochettino stated: “I nearly said no, but I cannot lie [about watching Match of the Day]! That is what we were talking about at half-time.

“About to expose the space. But I think that Nico, if you watch the game against Liverpool or Dortmund in pre-season, or Luton, he was doing what the analysis was about and what we expect.

“But for different circumstances, Nico is not at his best today. For different circumstances, but we need to recover the player that was."

He added: "But it's really dangerous this type of analysis because it's one game. I cannot lie, it wasn't his best but we need to be fair. If you watch Luton, if you watch Dortmund in pre-season, if you watch Liverpool, you will see this is one player. Brentford game was another player. I agree with the analysis, but it's not fair to say he is not this or you know. I agree with analysis, but not to say he is not capable to do what we expect of him."

He finished on the Senegal international: “I believe in him, I believe. The only problem is time. I don't want to give examples, but he arrived at Chelsea in a situation is not easy for him.

“Another player had the same situation like Nico and maybe because we didn't score it's another day. Maybe we go to another different you know? Maybe players with more time than Nico, they are not performing in the way that we expect. But the club believes it is possible to perform.

“That is why we cannot be unfair in the analysis because he was frustrated from the beginning for different circumstances. But we need to give time, for sure he has the conditions. He showed that the conditions he has it's only give time to him."