Chelsea Striker Diego Costa to Play Against Arsenal Despite Hamstring Fears

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will defy medical advice and start striker Diego Costa for the third match in a week for the Premier League visit of Arsenal this weekend.

Mourinho had stated that Costa was unable to play more than once within a seven day period due to concerns over a hamstring injury, but the Spanish striker has featured against both Aston Villa and Sporting Lisbon in the past four days.

Costa, who suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury while on international duty with Spain after being dogged with the problem during the twilight of last season, is expected to be named in Vicente del Bosque's squad for next week's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.

After Costa played in the friendly against France in September despite being injured, Mourinho took aim at the Spanish football association, blaming them for the 25-year-old's current predicament which sees him unable to take a full part in Chelsea training.

However, the Chelsea boss still expects del Bosque to select Costa for the qualifying double-header and therefore is unwilling to be sympathetic regarding the fitness of the striker, who has already netted eight goals for his new club since moving from Atletico Madrid.

"Because I have the feeling that the [Spain] national team is not going to think about it [the injury], I am not going to think about it too," Mourinho told Sky Sports over Costa's chances of playing against Arsenal.

"I think it makes no sense to try and resolve a situation when in one week I think he is back to the national team."

He added: "His profile as a player we all think that he is very much adapted to the characteristics of English football and also the way Chelsea is trying to play football this season. All of this together means it is not a big surprise for us that he is performing well."

Costa's hamstring problems originated during the end of last season, which saw the forward risked for the La Liga title decider against Barcelona and the Champions League final against Real Madrid, before being substituted early on in both matches.

Despite featuring in the World Cup with Spain and starting the season with a goal on his Chelsea debut against Burnley, fears regarding's Costa's fitness returned prior to the trip to Everton, which saw the forward recover in time to score twice.

However, after Spain refused to rest Costa for the friendly defeat against France which saw another recurrence of the hamstring issue, Mourinho has been forced to carefully manage his £32m summer signing.