have been forced to make a late U-turn with ahead of their clash with Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
Jackson has been away at the Africa Cup of Nations with this month but his nation were eliminated from the tournament on Monday after losing to Ivory Coast on penalties in their last-16 tie.
Chelsea had planned for Jackson to fly to Manchester after Senegal’s AFCON exit where he would then be able to link up with his teammates ahead of their trip to Anfield.
However, it’s understood that Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse ordered team to return to Dakar together before returning to their clubs this week.
This decision delayed Jackson’s return and the 22-year-old, who has scored seven goals in the Premier League this season, was unable to return in time for Chelsea’s 8.15pm kick-off on Wednesday night.
Speaking before the setback, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted he still held out hope of including Jackson in his matchday squad to face Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield.
‘But with Nico, we miss this aggressivity that he provides in front, he runs a lot, the effort is massive and he helps the team to press high, recover and then to score goals because also he is scoring goals,’ Pochettino said.
‘He has a good record at the moment. I think we miss him a lot and now, yes, happy in some way because we can recover him and the other side, of course, is sad because they lost.
‘But selfishly, I am happy because maybe tomorrow he can be with us.’
, . , and .
Chelsea news, exclusives and analysis
