Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink claims Jose Mourinho has put pressure on Chelsea's strikers with his comments

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Former Chelsea hero Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has claimed that the current crop of strikers at the club are now under serious pressure to perform following Jose Mourinho’s comments.

Mourinho made a comment off camera – but was secretly recorded – that he has ‘no strikers’ and didn’t know the age of Samuel Eto’o, his highest-scoring striker.

Hasselbaink, who scored 175 goals while playing in England, insists that with the added pressure, it should spur the strikers on to perform at a higher level.

“As a striker you already have pressure on you,” he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show. “All of the strikers, Demba Ba, Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o, know people are talking about them already because they are not scoring goals. That is not a secret.

“There is more pressure on them now because they have heard what Mourinho has said. They have a job to do though. They should use it to their benefit. You can prove to the manager that he is wrong. You are a professional, you cannot go on strike, you have to play to the best of your ability.

“I would use it as a motivational tool.”