Diego Costa: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says the striker is 'not injured' and could feature against Stoke

The Spain international has a long-standing hamstring injury

James Orr
Friday 03 April 2015 11:32 EDT
Comments
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says that Diego Costa trained yesterday and is "not injured", but he is unsure yet whether the Spain striker will start against Stoke City tomorrow.

The 26-year-old Blues forward, who has scored 19 goals for the club this season, has a long-standing hamstring injury and missed international duty for Spain this past fortnight after he was forced off against Hull in Chelsea's last fixture.

Mourinho, however, says that Costa is set to feature against against Stoke, and he has no new injury concerns. Midfielder John Obi Mikel will be rested.

"We have no injuries, but Mikel is not selected, he is fine and working all week but he very tired so he is not selected but not injured.

Diego Costa was replaced by Loic Remy in Chelsea's last match
Diego Costa was replaced by Loic Remy in Chelsea's last match (GETTY IMAGES)

"Diego Costa trained yesterday am today, he's not injured, I don't know if I'll start him or not. I need to make a decision, but the medical department is empty."

Chelsea lead Manchester City by six points in the Premier League title, and Mourinho knows his side need 19 points to claim their first Premier League title since the 2009/10 season.

The Portuguese added: "We need six victories and one draw in nine matches. It's a good situation for us. We need to do that.

"I'm not thinking about how or when, I'm just thinking that we need to win six matches and one draw. Every victory we have is one less we need and is one less for our opponents to reach us.

"I just want to win it."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in