Diego Costa injury: Spain doctor hits back at Jose Mourinho by saying striker did not aggravate hamstring on international duty

Costa has not played since returning from Spain duty earlier this month

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has not played since returning from Spain duty (Getty Images)

The doctor of Spain's national team has said that the Chelsea striker Diego Costa suffered no injury problems while on international duty, countering claims made by Jose Mourinho that Costa returned from the national team "in conditions where he's not available to play for his club".

The Blues top scorer this season, Costa has not played since returning from international duty earlier this month. He was admitted to hospital with a virus since but Mourinho had said that he has been sidelined because of his hamstring problem, which has been a long-standing concern for the striker.

Mourinho claimed that Costa aggravated his hamstrings while playing in the two matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg.

The manager had said: "He aggravated the hamstrings because he played two matches in three days and was not with us. I hope [it is the end of his problems] but he has national team in November."

Spain's doctor, Juan Jose Garcia Cota, however, told IBFTimes that they only problem Costa had was a "very minor groin issue".

"This time he didn’t say anything about the hamstring. When Costa arrived to the international team he said to us he had a minor hassle in the groin but that it was nothing important. He probably had played with it before for Chelsea and he didn’t complain any more about it during the international duty.

"He was treated by the physios and didn’t have any limitations when doing exercises. I wouldn’t even say it was an injury or a problem. It was a very minor hassle that is very common in every professional footballer. He didn’t even ask for treatment and didn’t require a scan or anything similar."

Costa is expect to return to the Chelsea side for the match against Queens Park Rangers this weekend.