Chelsea: Kurt Zouma claims Oscar and Diego Costa training ground bust-up proved passion of players

Kurt Zouma thinks the training ground bust-up between Oscar and Diego Costa proves how much the Chelsea players care about their current woes. The duo had to be separated during an incident at the club's Cobham training ground earlier in January and Zouma thinks the clash should be seen as a positive, not a negative.

The west London club currently languish in 14th place in the Premier League and their title-winning manager Jose Mourinho was sacked in December 2015. Zouma thinks tension on the training ground underlines the desire among the players to change their fortunes.

The Chelsea star said, according to the London Evening Standard: "For us, training is like a game. We have to give everything. The way you train is the way you play. So first of all, we have to improve in training. Is that why you get tackles like that? Of course.

"In training we are working hard every day. Everybody is putting good intensity into their game. We have played well in a few games and are improving much better, so let's keep the intensity very high.".

The 21-year-old defender played in Chelsea's 2-0 win against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup third round. He said the game proved there is no lingering animosity between Oscar and Costa.
"If you watched the [Scunthorpe] game you can see how they [Oscar and Costa] are both together. Just like everybody, they are very good friends," he said.

Costa scored the opening game of the game for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek adding a second after half-time. The Blues face West Brom in their next fixture in the Premier League on 13 January.