Diego Costa Injury Concerns Revealed by Jose Mourinho After Schalke Draw

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes Diego Costa is currently only fit enough to start one game a week due to a hamstring issue.

The Spanish striker—who has scored seven goals in his opening four Premier League games for the Stamford Bridge outfit—came off the bench in the 74th minute as Chelsea were held to a 1-1 home draw with Schalke in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.

Mourinho insisted there was no way Costa could have started the game as he is still recovering from an injury picked up on international duty, per Neil Ashton in the Daily Mail:

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He went to the national team in perfect conditions and came back injured. [...]

Costa has a problem and he can't play in this moment three matches in a week. If he has one week to let the muscle recover, he can start again like he has been since he had that problem with the national team. But three days, after Saturday, is not enough. It was not to protect him for the game for Sunday (vs. Manchester City), but because today he was not in the condition after Saturday.

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In the absence of Costa—and despite Loic Remy's availability—the Portuguese manager handed a start to 36-year-old Didier Drogba, who lacked the sharpness of old, per football writer Miguel Delaney:

The Ivorian had a handful of chances to put the game to bed but could not put them away. Had Costa been fit enough to play a full 90 minutes, it would likely have been a different result.

Cesc Fabregas' opening goal was cancelled out by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's strike with Chelsea potentially guilty of underestimating a Schalke side who put in an excellent performance, per talkSPORT's Jason Cundy:

Costa's injury concerns should not be a major issue for Chelsea and he will likely be able to start the Blues' crucial Premier League trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

Equally, Mourinho has a good opportunity to rest his star striker next week, as Chelsea should have enough to overcome Bolton in the League Cup on Wednesday, even without Costa.

The 25-year-old—who arrived from Atletico Madrid in the summer—has been so influential for Chelsea since the start of the season that Mourinho can take no risks on his fitness.

The Blues came up short in the Premier League last season mainly because of a lack of clinical finishing in front of goal.

Costa has gone a long way to solving this problem and if it is necessary for him to miss midweek games to preserve his long-term fitness, Mourinho is right to do so.