Chelsea interim coach Guus Hiddink has said he is confident that Chelsea striker Diego
Costa will be fit to start against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions
League on Wednesday.
He had appeared likely to lead the Chelsea line against the Potters after Hiddink said on Friday that it was "difficult to put a brake on him."
But Mame Diouf equalised in the second half as Stoke rallied to claim their first league point at Stamford Bridge since 1984.Hiddink
said: "He had a little problem on the tendon, so that's why I was bit
cautious not to take the risk of worsening the situation. I think he
will be OK on Wednesday."
The draw extends Chelsea's unbeaten
Premier League run since Jose Mourinho's departure to 13 matches, and
Hiddink said qualifying for next season's Champions League was
increasingly unlikely.
"It's very difficult or almost impossible, especially when other teams are also knocking on that door," he added.
"Today's
result for West Ham [beating Everton 3-2] for instance, shows they are
knocking on that door as well. On the other hand, we know where we've
come from in December, one point from the relegation zone, and we've
done it in an amazingly short time.
"I'm frustrated because we
conceded a late goal. You can say we started rather sloppy in first
half. After 15, 20 minutes we got more energetic, with more composure,
and we scored a beautiful goal through Traore.
"In the second half
there was one key moment when the penalty wasn't rewarded for Oscar. It
was a clear, clear, clear penalty and I don't often say that.
"It would have been given as a free kick outside the box, but it was waved away.
"But
you can't say that Stoke were not pushing. They got encouragement from
that, they have some very creative players in the attacking part of
their team, so in the end it was a fair result."
Saturday, 5 March 2016
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