
Diego
Costa is not yet ready to start more than one match in a week, Jose Mourinho
revealed following Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Schalke in the UEFA Champions
League.
The £32million summer signing from Atletico Madrid has scored seven goals in
four Premier League matches but was only available as a substitute for
Chelsea’s opening Group G clash on Wednesday night.
Mourinho insisted Costa was not fit to start after scoring three times
against Swansea last Saturday and ahead of Sunday's trip to Premier League
champions Manchester City.
Costa limped out of last season's Champions League final againt Real Madrid
with a hamstring problem and the injury recurred while on international duty
earlier this month with Spain.
"Costa has a problem," Mourinho said. "He came to us (from Atletico) and he
was completely fine. He had a problem again in the national team, not with
us.
"If he has one week to let the muscle recover he can start a game. Playing
on Saturday, three days is not enough for him to recover.
"It was not to protect for the game Sunday, it was because he was not in
condition to start the game. Now we have the problem and now we have to
resolve the problem the best we can.
"He was not in condition to play. Sunday we believe he is. Next week against
Bolton (in the Capital One Cup), for sure he isn't. We have to manage the
situation until the moment he's completely fine."
Chelsea twice beat Schalke 3-0 in last season's competition but saw Cesc
Fabregas' first-half goal cancelled out by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Chelsea missed a host of opportunities while it appeared Huntelaar had
fouled Fabregas in the build-up to the goal, but Mourinho's only complaints
were with his side's defending.
"From my position I can't say that (it was a foul on Fabregas)," Mourinho
said. "They scored 1-1 in a counter-attack situation. We made two mistakes.
"One was not to make a foul immediately when they recovered the ball and we
had a chance for that.
"The other one was the fact I told my players 20 times (Julian) Draxler
wants to come inside for his right foot. It was also a mistake in the box."
Mourinho felt the performance of Didier Drogba - playing for Chelsea in the
Champions League for the first time since his penalty secured the trophy in
2012 - was "positive".
The Portuguese was frustrated to once again be asked about his choice of
goalkeeper after continuing with Thibaut Courtois ahead of Petr Cech.
"I don't accept that you ask me about the goalkeeper every week," he added.
"For me it's just a decision and I can't say more than I say. What I say is
that I have two fantastic goalkeepers, two of the best three goalkeepers in
the world. And it's a fantastic situation for Chelsea."