Guus Hiddink
dismissed concerns
over Diego Costa's
fitness by insisting
the Spain striker will
be available for
Chelsea's crucial
Champions League
clash with Paris Saint
Germain on
Wednesday.
Costa missed Saturday's 1-1 Premier League
draw against Stoke as he rested to avoid
aggravating a tendon injury, but Blues
interim manager Hiddink is confident his
star forward will return for the last 16,
second leg against PSG.
With the French champions holding a 2-1
lead, Hiddink can't afford to be without the
in-form Costa, especially as Chelsea laboured
without him in a match that prompted the
Dutchman to dismiss their top four hopes as
"impossible" and set his sights on success in
Europe and the FA Cup.
"Diego had a problem on the tendon, that's
why I was cautious not to worsen the
situation, but I think he will be OK on
Wednesday," Hiddink said.
"I think the top four is difficult, almost
impossible especially when other teams are
knocking on that door.
"I am very respectful of the likes of West
Ham who got a good result today (at
Everton). On the other hand we know where
we came from in December, one point off
the relegation zone, and amazingly we got
safe in a relatively short time.
"We got into mid-table which normally for
Chelsea standards is not enough. But if we
can go into a very beautiful March and April
that would be nice in the Champions League
and FA Cup."
Bertrand Traore, the exciting 20-year-old
from Burkina Faso, started in attack in the
absence of Costa, and justified his
manager's faith with his second Premier
League goal, a spectacular left-footed shot
from 20 yards six minutes before the break.
But Stoke pushed Chelsea all the way and
were rewarded five minutes from the end
when Mame Diouf headed into an empty net
after Thibaut Courtois failed to claim
Xherdan Shaqiri's cross.
'BEAUTIFUL'
"Traore showed in parts of the game he has
the quality," said Hiddink. "It is a bit different
to start at Stamford Bridge.
"Young players need control and to
dominate their nerves. But he showed with
the goal he has a capacity to do a lot.
"We have some young players in the team
and they compete in a healthy way. If they
show what they can do in training they will
be rewarded.
"The match was frustrating, it is always
frustrating to concede a late goal. But you
can say we started rather sloppy in the first
half and after 15-20 minutes we had more
composure.
"We scored a beautiful goal through Traore.
But they have got some very creative players
and in the end it was a fair result."
Stoke manager Mark Hughes revealed he
was going to take off Diouf before his goal.
"I felt we deserved a point," he said.
"Arguably we felt a little bit hard done by.
"We had opportunities, certainly first half,
which we didn't convert, unfortunately.
"And lo and behold we get done with a
sucker punch just before halftime.
"You can be a bit deflated, but in fairness it
was the complete opposite reaction.
"I basically told them to keep doing what
you are doing and second half was more of
the same.
"As the half progressed, I felt Chelsea looked
to play on the counter attack and we had
more control of the game possession wise.
"And there was a feeling in the stadium that
we were the more likely team to get the
next goal.
"I was a little bit fortunate because I was
going to take Mame Diouf off just before he
scored. That's the fortune you need.
"All-in-all, we have once again come here
and shown real belief. That's the first point, I
think, Stoke have got from Stamford Bridge
since 1984."
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Hiddink confident over Costa fitnessCreated at
2016-03-06 07:05:25