- Jackson had been struggling for goals
- Scored a hat-trick against Spurs to help Chelsea win 4-1
- Palmer demands more from team-mate
WHAT HAPPENED? The 22-year-old forward grabbed headlines after he propelled Chelsea to a 4-1 win over a high-flying Tottenham Hotspur side in north London on Monday evening. Spurs were reduced to nine men after Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off, but put their bodies on the line to frustrate Chelsea until Jackson put the visitors in front for the first time in the 75th minute.
The former Villarreal striker, who has faced plenty of criticism since his summer move from Spain in a deal worth €35 million (£30m/$38m), added two more goals in stoppage time to seal his hat-trick and all three points for the Blues. However, Palmer, who converted from the spot to level proceedings after Dejan Kulusevski’s opener, has suggested that Jackson must “work harder” to start scoring on a more regular basis.
WHAT THEY SAID: “It’s been a difficult start for him, no hiding it, but he was brilliant tonight,” he said to Sky Sports in a post-match interview alongside Jackson. “He just needs to keep his head down and work harder in training and he will get many more hat-tricks.”
The interviewer double-checked with Cole Palmer and asked: “You say work harder?”
The player replied: “Of course. You can always work harder.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Jackson did not appear to be offended by the comment and instead agreed that he does need to put in more yards at Cobham, having also been guilty of squandering a few opportunities against Tottenham.
Lampard tried to get Chelsea to sign this £100m Bellingham.
“Always need to improve, always need to work harder. We continue working,” he said. “Now this is past, so we forget about it and move forward. I am very happy and it has been a difficult time for everybody in the team. We are coming back really slowly and happy to have scored three goals. It’s my first hat-trick, so I am happy to have done it with the biggest club in England and everywhere. We were dreaming about winning the big games and the confidence within the team is coming really slowly.”
WHAT NEXT? Chelsea will return to action against league leaders Manchester City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge in their next Premier League fixture.
