Mourinho: "Diego Costa is doing almost nothing in training"

Diego Costa celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that striker Diego Costa is hardly training in spite of his stellar debut season in the Premier League.

Diego Costa is barely training despite leading the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, according to his Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

"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.”

Costa had scored his eight goal of the season this Sunday as Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory against Aston Villa.

"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," he added.

Mourinho denies talking to Spanish manager Vincente del Bosque about Costa

When asked if he will speak to Spanish manager Vincente del Bosque directly over Costa’s injury woes, the Portuguese insisted he doesn’t.

"If he doesn't go to the national team and if he stays here for 15 days just on treatment, he has the perfect chance to be top for Chelsea and top for the national team," he said. "If he doesn't have this period, it will be always, plays one game, the other is in trouble, the muscle is tight, the muscle is in danger of rupture."

Will Costa play in Chelsea’ next tie against Lisbon?

Chelsea will be playing Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League this Tuesday, and whether Costa will start the game or not still remains a doubt.

"I want to. Let's see what happens.”