Diego Costa will be risked for Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon tonight.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho is willing to take a gamble on the striker in the Portuguese capital having lost Didier Drogba to injury for the next couple of weeks.
“Diego starts,” said Mourinho. “Hopefully he plays again on Sunday, against Arsenal, but at the moment I don’t think about Arsenal, I think about Sporting and Diego starts tomorrow.
“There is a risk, yes, but he plays. We assume the risk and he plays. Hopefully everything goes well and hopefully from Tuesday to Sunday he has enough period of time to be back on track and play against Arsenal.
“Drogba is going to be out for a couple of weeks. He had a problem in the training session with his ankle, so it was not possible for him to travel and I think it will not be possible for him to recover for Sunday.
“It’s an important game for us [against Sporting], a difficult game. If I can play my best players and the team I think is the best team to try to get us a result, I’m not going to make any changes.
“That also gives me some players on the bench with the quality to help me, which can help me change the direction of the game. We are ready for another fight.”
Mourinho’s Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by German side Schalke in their opening Group G game at Stamford Bridge.
