Nicolas Jackson explains why other strikers may 'not want to come' to Chelsea and reveals how he's taking inspiration from Karim Benzema

The Senegalese striker was in conversation with talkSPORT when he revealed his thoughts about strikers being hesitant to join the club due to a history of strikers failing at the club since Didier Drogba's departure. He also revealed that despite the poor start to proceedings at the club, he was taking inspiration from Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema and how his career also had a rocky start with Los Blancos.

"It's not easy," Jackson told talkSPORT. "If you think of all the strikers that came here, you would not want to come here. If you think about the strikers that come here, and people say they're not good enough, you would think, 'There is no need for me to come here'.

"But I was brought up to be challenged and not listen to other people and just do the thing that's the most important, that's playing for the team and making the team win, and being in a good relationship with the players and the coach and everybody. That's the most important for me. That's why I came. When I came, I understood why they were saying they're not good enough, because it's a big team and everything, but life is like this. We just have to continue working and believe in ourselves and try to improve every day.”

Jackson continued: "Sometimes I go to sleep watching the same videos, always thinking I should've done better. But when I was young, I saw [Karim] Benzema playing for Real Madrid. I was supporting Madrid when I was young and Benzema was missing a lot of chances. But you know, later he won the Ballon d'Or. I'm not saying I'm at that level. I can't be at that level now. But I've seen it before so I'm not worried. I'm just trying to improve every day and be where I want to be."

Chelsea have had a long list of big names who have failed to make an impact at the club with strikers generally having a short life span at Stamford Bridge.

The list of strikers includes names such as Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres, Hernan Crespo, Gonzalo Higuain, Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata.

Jackson will be desperate to break Chelsea's striker curse and prove to be the solution for the club in the centre-forward position for many years to come.

He will be hoping that his performances for the rest of the season will be good enough to see him climb up the pecking order.

Jackson will be a crucial part of Mauricio Pochettino's team later this weekend when they take on Liverpool in the final of the Carabao Cup on Sunday, February 25. The Carabao Cup could be Chelsea's only realistic shot at silverware this season.