Jose Mourinho: Chelsea do not miss Arsenal new boy Petr Cech despite Thibaut Courtois red card

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes the club are not feeling the loss of Petr Cech following Thibaut Courtois' red card in their Premier League opening day draw with Swansea City.

Courtois' dismissal in the 51<sup>st minute for a challenge on Swans forward Bafetimbi Gomis during the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge will see the goalkeeper miss the next three domestic games against Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion Crystal Palace.

Asmir Begovic, signed from Stoke City to replace Petr Cech – who joined Arsenal for £10m ($15.5m) in the summer according to BBC Sport – came on to make his competitive debut for Chelsea but was helpless to prevent Gomis' penalty snatching a point for Garry Monk's side.

While the Bosnia international will now have the chance to stake a claim for the number one position in the Chelsea goal, the absence of Courtois is a blow to the Premier League champions and highlights the impact of Cech's departure to North London.

But Mourinho insists such is Begovic's quality that Chelsea will not be affected by the loss of Cech, despite Courtois' upcoming absence.

"We don't miss Petr," Mourinho said according to Sky Sports. "We've got a good keeper, the problem with Petr is not that we miss him because we have two excellent keepers. The problem with Petr is that an opponent is better than before.

"Thibaut and Asmir are two fantastic keepers. My club did very well by getting a keeper on time and not on 31 August.

"If my club gives me a keeper on 31 August, then we have a problem not just for today but also for the next match. Unless the people understand that it's not a red card and they clear the suspension."

One positive for Chelsea on an afternoon of frustration that saw them twice lose their lead was the return to fitness of Diego Costa who, after initially being in doubt for the visit of Swansea, played the full 90 minutes.

Costa suffered a recurrence of a long-term hamstring problem that saw him miss swathes of his maiden season in English football in pre-season and Mourinho was thrilled with the Spain forward's contribution, particularly with his team down to 10 men for the last 34 minutes.

"He did very well and in the second half it was very difficult because there was a big distance [between him and his team-mates], we had one player less and it was a great effort,' he said, according to the club's official website.

"Even so, I was not expecting him to resist for 90 minutes but because we wanted to try to collect a goal we went with him until the end and it was very important for us that he played for 90 minutes with such a physical performance. He's very happy with the reaction of his body after such a difficult game."