Tuesday 24 November 2015 08:41, UK
Jose Mouriinho has taken a swipe at former Chelsea player Graeme Le Saux over security fears for their clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
It has been 14 years since the Blues last travelled to Israel when six members of the squad - Marcel Desailly, William Gallas, Le Saux, Albert Ferrer, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Emmanuel Petit - decided not to travel to the country to play Hapoel Tel Aviv.
In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Mourinho was asked about whether his squad had any concerns about playing in the Middle East, and his response involved a dig at former defender Le Saux, who has been critical of Mourinho's treatment of Doctor Eva Carneiro this season.
"I don't have one single problem inside the squad. I don't have a Graeme Le Saux. I have everybody without fears, just wanting to come," Mourinho said.
"I even have a player whose wife, maybe, is having a baby tomorrow or after tomorrow, and he's here to play, because he knows how important it is for us.
"The best way [to make sure we are not concerned about security] is to focus on football and the happiness you have to play football, and to leave security questions to people who know more than we do."
Chelsea bounced back from a run of three Premier League defeats to beat Norwich 1-0 on Saturday and victory in Tuesday's Champions League Group G clash could see them through to the last-16.
Mourinho added: "We are focused on what we have to do. We are very disappointed with the bad results we had for a significant period of time, and we need to keep getting results for our happiness, our pride, and obviously for the people that support us."
"I spoke with the players this morning and it was simple. I gave the example of last season against Maribor. We put ourselves in trouble. The attitude was not the best in Slovenia and we paid the price of that."
