Eden Hazard has revealed that he sometimes has to take anti-inflammatories after receiving "a lot of kicks" from defenders while playing for Chelsea.
Manager Jose Mourinho hit out at the number of fouls made against the Belgian midfielder last season, describing him as the most fouled player in the Premier League.
The PFA Player of the Year for the 2014-15 season told The Observer: "Sometimes I am in pain after games. I have to take some anti-inflammatories or something like that but I like to have the ball at my feet and, when I have the ball at my feet, I get a lot of kicks, but this is football.
"Sometimes I get kicked, sometimes not. We have a lot of physios and they work very well because we play every three or four days. It's important. I am able to stay calm, though. That's just the way I am. I don't speak a lot to the players or the defenders. I just want to play, to dribble, to do some skills.
"The worst one last season was against Stoke, with Phil Bardsley. When I see the video, it's crazy. I just play. I always say after the game that, if I've had a lot of kicks, the game was good. I don't care about kicks, I just want to score."
Hazard joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012.
Sian Cowper
