The former Liverpool midfielder claims he would have loved to have lined up against the Blues duo

Chelsea midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho have been described as “five-a-side players” by Liverpool veteran Graeme Souness.

The duo were in action on Tuesday as the Blues claimed a nervous 2-1 win over Lille to book their spot in the Champions League knockout stages. 

With Kovacic and Jorginho lining up alongside N’Golo Kante in midfield, Souness questioned their contribution to the game, stating he would have wanted to come up against players like them.

“I think the midfield is lacking,” Souness told Virgin Media Sport. “I like Kante, we speak about him every time we see him about how good he is. But I think Kovacic and Jorginho border on five-a-side players.

“If I’m a midfielder and I’m in the tunnel with Kovacic and Jorginho as my opponents, I’m licking my lips. I’d want to play against them.

“I wouldn’t want to play against Kante. I’d want to play against them.”

Kovacic recently broke his goal drought for Chelsea after netting against Valencia last month and also got his name on the scoresheet over the weekend in a 3-1 loss to Everton. 

Jorginho meanwhile has struck four times and contributed two assists across all competitions this season as he looks to impress under Frank Lampard.

The Blues boss conceded his side did show signs of nerves on Tuesday against Lille, where they needed a win to progress. 

“It did get twitchy. We need to take our chances better. At 2-0 I thought it was not quite done and when Lille scored it made it a more nervy finish to the game than it needed to be,” Lampard told BT Sport. 

“It’s going to be a work in progress. With the young players we have in this side there will be bumps in the road. I push them and can be quite hard on them, setting the high standards I want to see them reach, but at the same time I have to be patient.

“Today was a sign of how much work we still have got to do. It should have been a calmer finish to the game and that is the biggest thing, for me, that we need to improve.”