Diego Costa will return to the Chelsea starting XI for the visit of Aston Villa but Ramires remains unavailable.

The powerful striker missed the midweek win over Bolton Wanderers as Loic Remy was handed a chance by manager Jose Mourinho.

Costa is struggling to cope with the demands of playing two or three games a week and the Blues are having to manager his fitness.

“He will play tomorrow [against Aston Villa] and he starts the game without problems,” Mourinho said of Costa.

“The question is always the same: can he finish the game game and be in conditions to play in Lisbon 48 hours.

“In this moment, I don’t know because I don’t think about Sporting or the Champions League.”

Ramires is out of the game at Stamford Bridge with the muscle problem that also saw him miss the Bolton clash.

Mourinho warned the player is also unlikely to feature against Arsenal on October 5 and believes he needs an extended rest during the upcoming international break.

Re-cap Mourinho's full pre-match press conference here.

Chelsea predicted starting XI
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