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Former Liverpool star, Steve Nicol has criticised three Chelsea stars, and claimed they’re not ‘good enough’ to be playing for the Blues after their 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday.

The Blues’ defeat to Eddie Howe’s men is their fifth of the season after just 13 league games, with the coach, Mauricio Pochettino describing it as the worst they have suffered in the ongoing campaign.

Conor Gallagher has been hailed for stepping up and being a much-better player for Chelsea this season, but against Newcastle, the 23-year-old was not at it all, and was even hauled off after 60+ minutes.

While speaking on ESPN FC, Nicol didn’t have good things to say about Gallagher, and listed him, along with Nicolas Jackson and Lesley Ugochukwu as players that shouldn’t be playing for Chelsea.

He said: “They’ve got players playing that shouldn’t be playing in a team that’s supposed to be in the top four, let me put it that way. You know, Jackson up front isn’t good enough, Gallagher’s not good enough. Ugochukwu today showed that I don’t think he’s good enough.”

If there’s one player that shouldn’t be criticised at this stage of the season, it has to be Gallagher. The midfielder has been a lot better for the Blues since the start of the season, and it wouldn’t be fair to judge him this harshly after one bad game.