Wednesday 3 December 2014 18:59, UK
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is confident his team will cope just fine without leading goalscorer Diego Costa against Tottenham on Wednesday.
The Spanish international is suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season during last weekend's goalless draw at Sunderland.
Mourinho is adamant the Blues’ other strikers, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba, are ready to fill the void left by Costa, who has scored 11 league goals this season.
"We don't speak about Diego," he said. "We trust Remy and Drogba the same way we trust Diego. This is not our way of work.
“So forget Diego. We trust the other two and we go with the other two."
Chelsea head into the mid-week matches six points clear of second-place Manchester City at the head of the Premier League table.
City closed the gap at the weekend by winning against Southampton on Sunday but Mourinho remains very satisfied with how his team has performed so far this season.
Asked about the reaction to the Sunderland result, he said: "Normal. What do you want the team to do or feel when the team is doing a perfect season?
"We are top of the league in the Premier League, top of the group in the Champions League, in the quarter-finals in the Capital One Cup, and haven't lost a match in four months.
"The team has to feel very, very well. When the defeat arrives, we have to feel the same way.
“We are doing things very, very well and it's not a bad result, when a bad result arrives, that is going to change our self-belief and self-esteem."
