Diego Costa injury: Jose Mourinho blames Spain manager Vicente del Bosque for overplaying Costa as he continues to struggle with injury

Costa played two matches in three days for Spain but has not played since as he has missed matches against Crystal Palace, Maribor and Manchester United

Chelsea striker Diego Costa (Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho thinks Spain coach Vicente del Bosque is to blame for Diego Costa's recent injury troubles.

Costa began the season in prolific form, scoring nine goals in seven matches, but he has missed Chelsea's last three fixtures because of a persistent hamstring injury and he will be absent from the squad for Tuesday's Capital One Cup tie against Shrewsbury.

The former Atletico Madrid man had also been suffering from a virus in the build-up to Sunday's Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United, but Mourinho revealed it was injury, rather than illness that ruled the £32million signing out of the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

The striker has been troubled by the hamstring problem for some time, but Mourinho believes it was exacerbated by Del Bosque when he fielded the 26-year-old in back-to-back games against Slovakia and Luxembourg earlier this month.

The Chelsea manager said: "He (Costa) had to go to the hospital and obviously it doesn't help him to recover from his injury. But he didn't play on Sunday because of the injury, not because of the virus.

"Diego has the hamstring (problem) because he played two matches in three days when he was not with us."

Mourinho voiced his concern over a lack of communication with Del Bosque and other national coaches earlier this month and the problem still clearly concerns him.

When asked whether he hoped Costa's injury problems would soon be over, Mourinho replied: "But he still has the national team in November!"

This weekend Mourinho looks as though he will be able to recall the Premier League's deadliest striker.

"I think so," replied the Portuguese when asked if Costa would be fit for Saturday's Premier League game against QPR.

Costa's physical presence would have helped the Blues in their battle at Old Trafford, where Mourinho and captain John Terry felt Chelsea should have had a penalty in the first half.

Branislav Ivanovic went down in the box during a tussle with United defender Chris Smalling during a set piece. Just in front of Ivanovic, Terry also tumbled to the ground as he battled with Marcos Rojo, but no penalty was awarded.

Terry gestures during the recent win over Maribor (Getty Images)

Terry hit out at United and Dowd on Instagram with a clear complaint in the form of a hashtag.

The Chelsea captain wrote: "It shows how well we are playing when you come away from Old Trafford disappointed with 1 point.

"Thanks to all the travelling fans for your great support.

#JtandIVAgotdoubleheadlockedfromeverycorner."

Mourinho confirmed in a post-match briefing at Old Trafford that Andre Schurrle, Mohamed Salah, Kurt Zouma, John Obi Mikel and Lewis Baker will play at Shrewsbury.

The Shrews are 71 places below Mourinho's unbeaten side so it was with little surprise that the Chelsea boss called Tuesday's match a "friendly".

John Terry was critical of Manchester United's defending (Getty Images)

He still refuses to take victory over the League Two promotion contenders for granted though.

Mourinho added: "You can say that Shrewsbury in the Capital One Cup is a friendly, but we have to play the match and respect the match.

"It is a big day for them and we know it is going to be difficult for us."

PA