
Chelsea
boss Jose Mourinho believes there is a "desire to suspend" striker Diego
Costa following his retrospective ban for grappling with Arsenal's Laurent
Koscielny.
Costa is poised to return to the Chelsea line-up for Tuesday's Champions
League Group G clash at Porto having missed the 2-2 draw at Newcastle
serving the first of a three-game ban.
Mourinho was full of praise for the Spain international's performance
against the Gunners, but when asked if he'd like all 11 players to show the
same desire, he said: "I think we would lose every game because the desire
to suspend him is so big that we wouldn't have players to start the game.
"I'm happy to have only one and let him play until they decide to suspend
him again."
Mourinho returns to his old club with Chelsea 15th in the Premier League
after just two wins from their first seven games and he admits no one is
untouchable in his side after their poor start to the season.
"Untouchables in football, only consistency can give you that status," he
added. "You have to be a fantastic player, but you have to be consistent.
"In this moment we have fantastic players, the players that gave us the
title last season. But football is about today, it's not about yesterday. In
football you have to be consistent in your performance, in your emotion.
"To be a winner you don't need to win all the time, but to be a winner you
must have a strong mentality every game, every day. At this moment I don't
have untouchables."