Diego Costa injury update: Striker could return for Arsenal trip

Diego Costa's injured hamstring will definitely keep the striker from playing any part in Chelsea's next too matches, according to a report in the Mail. The 26-year-old limped off shortly after being introduced as a substitute in the 2-1 home win against Stoke City, and considering his history of hamstring problems I think everyone was fearing the worst.

For Costa to be ruled out of the QPR and Manchester United games isn't the end of the world -- Loïc Rémy, after all, is in brilliant form, and Didier Drogba's already shown he still has what it takes against United -- but Arsenal away, in theory our toughest match of the season, might be a little more problematic. But even targetting the trip to the Emirates sounds like we'd be rushing him a bit, and considering the Blues have a seven point cushion at the top of the table, with a game in hand to boot, it's hard to justify rolling the dice on Costa's fitness after it went so horribly wrong last weekend.

So while he might be ready to play in two weeks, if we're still in strong position and don't need him, I'd rather he get as much rest as possible. The hamstring's been a problem for more than a year now, and we can probably afford to give him time to heal.