Antonio Conte felt that Swansea should have had players sent off for their treatment of Diego Costa during the 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium and defenders target him.

There were three bookings in the first half and all of them involved Costa in one way or another.

He was booked for a foul in the build up to Gylfi Sigurdsson's fine shot, while Leroy Fer and Federico Fernandez saw yellow for fouling the Spaniard.

There was also no love lost between Jordi Amat and Costa as the Swansea defender went into the book for a shove in the back early in the second half.

And Conte felt further incidents should have resulted in a second yellow card, and subsequently a red.

He said: “I was surprised they weren't sent off. If you ask me that the defender deserved a second yellow card, I don't want to reply about this.

“In every game, the press ask me about the passion and behaviour of Diego Costa. Today, I can say Diego Costa behaved fantastically to control the situation.

“He took a lot of kicks from the first minute to the end of the game. He showed me and his team-mates that he had fantastic behaviour when it wasn't easy.”

The Italian believes that Costa's passion for the game leads to him being targeted by defenders.

He added: “I think defenders target him at times. The defenders know him and sometimes try to provoke him. It's normal.

“They know Diego is a passionate player and they try to provoke him. This is football, not only in England, Diego but in the world. The referee must see and allow Diego Costa to play his football.

When it came to Costa, Conte's opposite number Francesco Guidolin adopted a diplomatic view on the controversial striker.

“He's a champion. He's a strong striker and is one of the best strikers in the world. He's a very strong player,” he said.

“I think it was a challenge with Diego Costa and our defenders. It's a challenge and fight. He's able to play alone against three or four defenders.”