Branislav Ivanovic: 'Diego Costa's influence at Chelsea will grow when he improves English'

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic believes that Diego Costa's influence in Jose Mourinho's side will be even bigger as soon as the Spanish striker improves his English.

The Spanish international forward ended a four game goal draught during Saturday's (13 December) 2-0 victory over Hull City, scoring the second goal of the game and his 12th in 13 Premier League appearances since his £32m summer move from Atletico Madrid.

Ivanovic has hailed Costa's quick adaptation to the English pace, but believes the best from him is yet to come.

"He's a very nice and funny guy. He likes to make jokes and I think when he improves his English he'll have even more influence in the squad," Ivanovic said to the Chelsea official website.

"He knows how to control himself very well. He never sleeps in the game, he's not quiet, he wants to be a star, and he wants to be the player around which everything happens in the game."

"It's good for the team when he's working and you can see he is always trying to win duels and look positive on the pitch. He is set up like this for the team, it's his style."

Meanwhile the Serbian international expressed also his delight at how Chelsea put the previous Premier League defeat at Newcastle behind them to beat a solid Hull.

"It was very difficult and we expected that. It was a real example of how difficult every game in the Premier League is," he said.

"They have a lot of strong and powerful guys. They played with a three [at the back], a different shape to usual, and we had to adapt to that. It was a really physical game with a lot of duels.

"For this kind of game you need a lot of movement to win the game. It's a very important three points after the defeat at Newcastle."

At the same Ivanovic pointed out the importance of the busy Christmas period, with the Blues now ready to face Derby in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night (16 December) before the Premier League game against Stoke on Monday (22 December).

"We are in the period of the year where we need to only count the wins and the points. You know if the game is open then you can play beautifully, how you want to, but also when you're not playing at the top level you need to win the points," he said.

"Our next games are against physical teams and we'll need more power to win them. We know that the games that are coming up for us will be very tough."