Friday 27 February 2015 17:28, UK
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho declined to comment on Nemanja Matic’s suspension for fear it would get him in ‘big trouble’.
The Serbian midfielder has seen his ban cut to two games from an initial three and will miss Sunday’s Capital One Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley.
Matic is serving the suspension for a red card for violent conduct in the draw with Burnley, in which he reacted angrily to a challenge by Ashley Barnes.
Mourinho last weekend labelled Barnes' challenge "criminal" but would not comment on Matic's Wembley absence.
"If I give you my views, it's bad for me," said Mourinho, speaking ahead of the final.
"I can't give you my views. If I speak again about the Matic situation I will be in big trouble."
Mourinho has spoken at several times this season about what he feels is a "clear campaign" against his side by match officials.
On this occasion, he put the pre-match emphasis on ‘the players that like to complicate things’.
"It's easy for me to say that I don't believe that anyone involved in this game doesn't want to make his best," Mourinho said.
"I believe all three teams (Chelsea, Spurs and the match officials) will go with the same ambition to do very well and hopefully even the players that like to complicate things try to make the final a good final."
Mourinho also reaffirmed his respect for the Capital One Cup, a trophy he won for the Blues in 2005 and 2007, and one he treats with a great deal of importance.
“Probably a lot of teams have followed us since 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, when we took the league cup seriously,” said Mourinho.
“We always try to reach finals and we always want to win cups. A lot of clubs are chasing us – in the semi-final we played to the maximum of our potential against Liverpool.
“We respect every competition. The league cup is a big competition too and we want to try to make Wembley something normal for us, normal in the sense of being there year after year.”
