Gary Neville hits nail on head with 'unpopular opinion' on Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson

Gary Neville has jumped to the defence of Nicolas Jackson and insisted the Chelsea striker has had a positive debut season in the Premier League.

The 22-year-old made the move to Stamford Bridge from Villarreal last summer in a deal worth roughly £30m and has since scored 13 goals in 39 appearances for the Blues.

Jackson, though, has felt the heat in recent weeks in light of Chelsea's 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City, with the forward missing a handful of gilt-edged opportunities to fire Mauricio Pochettino's side ahead at Wembley.

However, Neville believes the 22-year-old has performed well in his first season in England and has a role to play for Pochettino's side going forward, even if he doesn't remain the first-choice No.9 at Stamford Bridge next season.

«I actually like Nicolas Jackson. That might be an unpopular opinion on here, but I like him,» said Neville on the Gary Neville podcast. «I think he has a lot to give. He's a young player. I think they he cost...not stupid money but it's his first full season in the Premier League, he's scored quite a few goals and he keeps going.

»There's a lot to be said about that. He might not be striker number 1 but if he was your striker number two or number three in a squad of 18 to 20 players, you'd say 'I'll take that'. So for me, the performance Chelsea put in against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final that was a hell of a performance. Good, really good.

«And if they had a forward who could finish more consistently than Nicolas Jackson then they would have won the game, and I think that's what Chelsea's owners should be looking at. Performance standards are not consistent and they're awful when they're awful — but actually their good looks quite