Conte: Costa Has Back Injury  (Sky Sports)

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has attempted to play down the omission of Diego Costa from the team to play Leicester, claiming the striker has a back injury.

Sky sources understand Costa has fallen out with Conte following a training ground row with two fitness coaches.

Conte stepped in and, according to Sky in Italy, the row ended with the Italian shouting: "Go to China!"

The row was against a backdrop of the Spain international being the subject of a £30m-per-year offer from a club in the Chinese Super League.

As expected, Costa did not travel to Leicester for Saturday evening’s Premier League clash.

But on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the King Power Stadium clash, Chelsea tweeted two quotes from Conte.

“On Tuesday, Diego stopped training with a pain in his back and then in the week he didn’t train with us,” read the first.

The second added: “We played without Diego against Bournemouth and we have had time to prepare for this. We've prepared very well.”

Sky sources understand that owner Roman Abramovich has no intention of selling Costa, who has two-and-a-half years left on his contract.

Sky Sports expert Graeme Souness believes Chelsea will risk missing out on the Premier League title if they lose Costa.