Monday 29 September 2014 06:47, UK
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho admits star striker Diego Costa is "hardly training" due to his ongoing hamstring problem.
Costa scored his eighth goal of the season in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday and Mourinho was surprised by the ease of the victory.
Three points for the Blues at Stamford Bridge were rarely in doubt as they controlled possession throughout, goals from Oscar, Costa and Willian sealing victory.
And Mourinho confirmed that Costa's superb start to life in the Premier League is not down to his work on the training pitch.
"He cannot be on top of his game," said Mourinho. "He's doing almost nothing in training. He's just resting and recovering from the tight muscle he has. I don't care about Diego's goals. For me it's important that the team score enough goals to win.
"I know a striker scoring goals is always nice for him and for his confidence, especially for a player like him who is not training as he should, because we are protecting him in certain situations.
“It was a very solid performance. We played really well, we had the ball, we controlled a lot of possession while always controlling their counter attack.
“My four defenders and midfield were really solid with and without the ball.
“I think they (Villa) are a good team and when you beat them in such an easy way it has to be a good performance.
Villa boss Paul Lambert admitted to being relatively pleased to “come away with confidence still intact” in spite of the comprehensive defeat but Mourinho was shocked by the “passive” nature of the visitors who managed just one effort on target.
“The team was keeping the ball and because they were so passive they never tried to press the ball. Our victory was never in doubt. They didn’t have a reaction,” he said.
Mourinho also had an eye on Tuesday’s Champions League trip to face Sporting Lisbon with Eden Hazard, Oscar and Costa all replaced in the second period.
Costa's participation in Portugal remains a major doubt with the Spain international struggling to play more than a game a week due to a persistent hamstring niggle.
“It is a gamble to play him (Costa) in consecutive matches without a week to recover from his situation. The accumulation (of games) is the problem."
Chelsea skipper John Terry knows they will miss Costa should he fail to recover to face Sporting.
“Diego Costa is a different class. He’s always a threat, is hungry for goals and we’re delighted to have him here.”
Loic Remy replaced Costa in the Villa game and is competing with Didier Drogba to lead the line in Portugal.
