Chelsea are braced to be without their leading scorer, Diego Costa, for the potentially critical collisions with Manchester United and Arsenal later this month after the Spain forward injured the left hamstring which has troubled him so regularly this season.
Costa, who strained the muscle in the Premier League leaders’ win at Hull City last month, had missed Spain’s games against Ukraine and Holland to undergo treatment. Chelsea’s medical staff and the player had been confident he had fully recovered but, having initially started on the bench in the 2-1 win over Stoke, he was introduced at half-time and pulled up after only 11 minutes.
The striker now faces another scan, most likely on Tuesday once the injury has settled. “It’s too early to determine how long he’ll be out, but it’ll be two weeks for sure,” said José Mourinho, whose side moved seven points clear at the top but host United and visit Arsenal before the end of the month. “But we still have seven weeks of the season to go so, half of it – he has to be with us.
“I wouldn’t say it was a gamble playing him because we did every test, and the muscle was clear. The player trained two days, 100%. The medical department were convinced he was ready. The player was convinced he was ready, not to play for 90 minutes but to help the team if needed. As a manager you have to risk things tactically, and the medical department has to do the same if they want to be top a medical department like ours.”
“A [play it] safe medical department can’t work with me: a department which says an injury of two weeks needs one or two months cannot work with me; people with fear who cannot take risks cannot work with me. They are fantastic but today, between them, the player and myself, things didn’t happen the best way.”
Costa was hampered severely in the autumn by hamstring problems, missing three weeks after the October internationals and being rested for Spain’s fixtures in November after tweaking the muscle. Mourinho had suggested on Friday that the club would do all they could to avoid pushing the £32m signing from Atlético Madrid towards surgery this summer to cure the problem for good, though if the issue persists that may end up being an option they have to pursue.
