Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho "hurt" by Diego Costa ban

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has refused to give his opinion on Diego Costa's three-match ban, saying only that the sanction "hurt" him and his team.

The Blues striker became embroiled in an incident with Laurent Koscielny in Saturday's 2-0 win over Arsenal and has since been retrospectively punished.

Gunners defender Gabriel, who was sent off for kicking out at Costa, had his red card rescinded, and the Portuguese coach acknowledges that discussing the matter would only backfire on him.

"If I bring examples, if I go deep and if I bring feelings into the discussion a big suspension will be waiting for me and I don't want that," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.

"The team doesn't need that, the team lost an important player for three matches and I don't think they need to lose their manager.

"Every time you lose a player it's not good for the team. It's easier to accept an injury but this kind of situation goes much more deeper in feelings and the team is hurt."

The 26-year-old striker sat out tonight's 4-1 third-round League Cup win at Walsall, and will also miss Saturday's trip to Newcastle United and the visit of Southampton the following week.