Chelsea’s Diego Costa cannot train fully due to a hamstring problem (Picture: AP)

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Diego Costa hardly trains out of fear of aggravating his hamstring, and says the striker should be left out of Spain’s squad for their Euro 2016 qualifiers next month.

Costa has hit the ground running at his new club since completing a £32million move from Atletico Madrid in the summer, with the Brazilian scoring eight Premier League goals for The Blues so far this season.

Costa, however, has been hampered by hamstring problems, which Mourinho says the striker needs to recover from.

‘He cannot be on top of his game,’ Mourinho said.

‘He’s doing almost nothing in training. He’s just resting and recovering from the tight muscle he has.’

On the importance of the 25-year-old continuing to score for Chelsea, Mourinho added: ‘I don’t care about Diego’s goals. For me it’s important that the team score enough goals to win.

‘I know a striker scoring goals is always nice for him and for his confidence, especially for a player like him who is not training as he should, because we are protecting him in certain situations.’

Jose Mourinho wants Diego Costa to miss Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifiers (Picture: REUTERS)

Costa is likely to be picked for Spain’s Euro 2016 matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg in October.

Mourinho, though, has insisted that it would be better for the player, Chelsea and Spain if Costa is omitted from the international qualifiers next month.

‘If he doesn’t go to the national team and if he stays here for 15 days just on treatment, he has the perfect chance to be top for Chelsea and top for the national team,’ he said.

‘If he doesn’t have this period, it will be always, plays one game, the other is in trouble, the muscle is tight, the muscle is in danger of rupture.’

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