Chelsea: Diego Costa injured as Blues are knocked out of the League Cup by Stoke City

Chelsea's season went from bad to worse on Tuesday (27 October) when the Capital One Cup holders were dumped out of the competition after they lost to Stoke City 5-4 on penalties. The game tied 1-1 after extra time.

The agony for Jose Mourinho did not end there as the manager later confirmed that Diego Costa was hospitalised following the game and remains a doubt for Liverpool's visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (31 October).

The Spanish international striker was replaced by Loic Remy after 33 minutes after coming together with Charlie Adams and Ryan Shawcross. His absence for the crucial game against the Merseyside club on Saturday will be a big blow to the Portuguese manager, who is hoping to arrest the slump his team are facing at the moment. The Premier League champions have had a disastrous start to the 2015/16 campaign and are currently on 15<sup>th spot -- 11 points behind pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal -- and the game against the Reds could have implications on the future of Mourinho at the club.

The former Real Madrid manager was unaware of the extent of the injury and was also in the dark about his availability. It, however, looks like a potential rib injury that could see him miss the weekend clash.

"I don't know. He is in the hospital, I think he punched himself in the ribs," Mourinho said, with a hint of humour, as quoted by ESPN FC.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea manager was proud of his team, despite their exit from the League Cup. He believes they put in an assured performance especially praising his offensive players, Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar.

"They go [home] with sadness but a positive feeling," he said. "How can [Eden] Hazard or Oscar or [John Obi] Mikel or John [Terry] -- and I could say everyone -- how can they go home with lack of confidence? Lack of confidence, why? They play well," the Portuguese man added.

"I think they enjoy more playing games than anything before, [because] the attacking players, Eden, Oscar, Willian, how many times do they touch the ball?"