Returning Costa fighting fire with fire

Chelsea's Costa won't change his playing style

Jose Mourinho started the party line over the treatment of both the players and the club and now Diego Costa has followed suit.

Chelsea striker Costa has claimed his challenges are "strong but noble" as he prepares to return from the three-game suspension he picked up for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg.

The Blues' leading scorer will be available for the Champions League clash with Paris St Germain on Tuesday night before returning to Premier League action for the visit of Burnley next weekend.

Costa has maintained his innocence throughout this latest incident and the former Atletico Madrid star certainly seems to be learning from his manager Mourinho, as he now claims he has been the victim of overly physical challenges since arriving at Stamford Bridge last summer.

Mourinho appears to be doing his level best to create a siege mentality amongst his Chelsea squad.

The Portuguese circled the wagons around Costa following the controversial League Cup semi final against Liverpool despite the damning nature of the televisions evidence against the 26-year-old.

When Branislav Ivanovic embroiled himself in unnecessary handbags with Everton's James McCarthy in midweek, Mourinho once more scoffed at any suggestion of wrongdoing.

It appears as if Costa is going to be more than willing to toe the party line.

"My challenges are strong but noble at the same time." Costa said in an interview with Sport magazine.

"Check my records, you'll find I've never caused a bad injury to a player."

Costa's record of 17 goals in 19 Premier League games is an exceptional return and he looks very likely to help Mourinho towards the title in his second season back at Stamford Bridge.

There is no doubt, however, that Costa is prone to losing his cool.

He infamously head-butted a Viktoria Plzen player during Atletico's 1-0 Europa League defeat in December 2012. The player, David Limbersky, had clashed with an Atletico teammate and Costa arrived on the scene all guns blazing, taking matters into his own hands.

During his time in La Liga, Costa had many battles with the man who would later become a Spanish teammate, Sergio Ramos. Clashes between the pair were often bordering on the edge.

Of course, we shouldn't forget that Costa has travelled a tough path to get to the top.

He has been described in the past as a street fighter, making his way in the game despite a hard upbringing. Football was the only way out for Costa - who received a four-month ban for punching an opponent and threatening a referee as a 16-year-old in Lagarto.

Costa has a temper; there can be no question of that. His game is physical in nature and from what we have seen this season, for the most part, he relishes the challenge.

There is a fuse there however. Regardless of the public utterings both player and manager may make, Chelsea have got to try and ensure the player doesn't go beyond boiling point - as he did in the clash with Liverpool.

For his part, Costa affirms that he is only fighting fire with fire in the physical stakes. He believes some of the challenges he receives in the Premier League would be met with red cards in La Liga.

Crucially for Chelsea, he doesn't seem put off with any of the recent treatment on or off the field of play.

"In England, the referees don't call many fouls, as opposed to Spanish football. Consequently, you must be really strong all through the 90 minutes," he added.