Jose still livid over Costa KO

Jose Mourinho thinks Spain coach Vicente del Bosque is to blame for Diego Costa’s recent injury troubles.

Costa began the season in prolific form, scoring nine goals in seven matches, but he has missed Chelsea’s last three fixtures because of a persistent hamstring injury and he will be absent from the squad for tonight’s Capital One Cup tie against Shrewsbury.

The former Atletico Madrid man had also been suffering from a virus in the build-up to Sunday’s Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United but Mourinho revealed it was injury, rather than illness that ruled the £32 million signing out of the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

The striker has been troubled by the hamstring problem for some time but Mourinho believes it was exacerbated by Del Bosque when he fielded the 26-year-old in back-to-back games against Slovakia and Luxembourg earlier this month.

‘He still has the national

team in November!’

The Chelsea manager said: “He (Costa) had to go to the hospital and, obviously, it doesn’t help him to recover from his injury. But he didn’t play on Sunday because of the injury, not because of the virus.

“Diego has the hamstring problem because he played two matches in three days when he was not with us.”

Mourinho voiced his concern over a lack of communication with Del Bosque and other national coaches earlier this month and the problem still clearly concerns him.

When asked whether he hoped Costa’s injury problems would soon be over, Mourinho replied: “But he still has the national team in November!”

Cup opponents Shrewsbury are 71 places below Mourinho’s unbeaten side, so it was with little surprise that the Chelsea boss called tonight’s match a “friendly”.

He still refuses to take victory over the League Two promotion contenders for granted though.

Mourinho added: “You can say that Shrewsbury in the Capital One Cup is a friendly but we have to play the match and respect the match.

“It is a big day for them and we know it is going to be difficult for us.”

David Clarkson rushes to congratulate Greg Stewart (left) after his goal put Dundee two up against table-toppers Hamilton at Dens.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Charlie Austin (left) celebrates scoring QPR’s second goal against Villa with Eduardo Vargas.