Costa should feel privileged not to have been dropped earlier: Mourinho

Chelsea football club's coach Jose Mourinho has said that striker Diego Costa should feel "privileged" that he was not dropped earlier despite poor form.

The Spanish forward was dropped in Sunday's goalless draw against Tottenham in an English Premier League match and then threw his bib in frustration at the coach.

"Diego is very privileged because he was the last one to be on the bench," Mourinho was quoted as saying by goal.com on Monday.

"Everyone else has been left out: the captain, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, the vice-captain of England, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Eden Hazard, the player of the season and Oscar. Everyone was on the bench and Diego was privileged because I kept him in the team for all these matches," he said.

Mourinho said Costa who has scored only four goals from 20 appearances so far this season is both mentally and physically fine.

"Physically he is fine. No problems. He is working well every day. His mood is positive. He's always a positive guy in the team. I was not expecting to have a player on the bench jumping and singing because he is not playing."

"But for a top player, they're not happy. His behaviour was normal. He was ready to play when he went to warm up. When I decided not to play him, he went (back to the bench). And probably he is having something to eat now while waiting for us on the bus."