Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson awaits FA decision on Nottingham Forest 'slap' | OneFootball

Both clubs could be in hot water after the ugly brawl that marred a feisty clash at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson could yet face retrospective action from the Football Association (FA) following his part in a brawl that erupted during Sunday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.

A feisty 1-1 Premier League draw at Stamford Bridge - in which West Ham loanee James Ward-Prowse was sent off - featured a furious late melee involving both sets of players sparked after Forest defender Neco Williams had appeared to push Chelsea counterpart Marc Cucurella into Enzo Maresca, resulting in the Blues boss taking a tumble on the touchline.

Players and staff from both sides were then involved in a heated scuffle, during which Jackson - who had already been substituted and joined in the brawl from the bench - was seen appearing to raise his hand towards the face of Forest defender Morato.

VAR officials did investigate the incident at the time and deemed Jackson not to be guilty of violent conduct, but he could still face retrospective action from the FA.

Nervous wait: Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson could yet be in trouble with the Football Association

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea and Forest could also both face FA charges of failing to control their players after the ugly scenes at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea fined £50,000 as a result of picking up six yellow cards in the game.

They were already fined £25,000 for doing likewise in last month’s 1-0 Premier League win at Bournemouth, with the amount now doubled for the second offence.

Two of Chelsea’s cautions in an ill-tempered meeting with Forest went to defenders Cucurella and Wesley Fofana, fifth bookings of the season for both players that will rule them out of the first game back after the October international break - a tough trip to Anfield to face early league leaders Liverpool.

Levi Colwill and goalscorer Noni Madueke also went off injured in stoppage time on Sunday, though Maresca appeared optimistic that neither would miss any time. Chelsea are already without captain Reece James due to his latest hamstring issue that has prevented him from playing at all so far this season.

Maresca joked that he would not be paying Chelsea’s latest FA fine, before responding when asked if his players were going too far: “It’s something we need to improve but overall, I like the team the way they are fighting. I like the way they are becoming a team in these kinds of things. I don’t see any problems about that.”

On Jackson’s role in the melee specifically, Maresca said: “In that moment, I think not only Nicolas was inside the pitch. If you look, more players from the bench were inside the pitch. I don't see that kind of things.

“If you ask me if I prefer when something like that happens, players from outside involved or not, I like the spirit of the team. I like the spirit of our team. I don’t see any problem.”

When it was pointed out that Jackson could face retrospective action, Maresca replied: “Yes but also someone tried to kick me there. When I fell down, I was there like this, and someone arrived.

“For sure, there are things that we can control and do better, for sure no doubt, and probably this is one of the things. But if you ask me about the team spirit, the way they are fighting together, the way they are doing things together, I’m very happy.”