Hamstring Injury Rules Diego Costa out for one month

Tomiwa Babalola

Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho has announced that the current premier league highest goal scorer, Diego Costa will be out of action for the next four games due to a hamstring injury.

The Stamford Bridge outfit still occupies the top position on the EPL log with 70 points from 30 games with one match at hand, seven points ahead of Arsenal who moved to the second position after Manchester City lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace last weekend.

That means sitting out key matches against title rivals Arsenal and Manchester United as well as relegation strugglers Queens Park Rangers and Leicester.

Mourinho said it would be "normal" to miss the next four games, which would mean Costa returning against Crystal Palace at the start of May.

With a seven-point lead, Chelsea need 15 more from eight games to regain the title they last won under Carlo Ancelotti in 2010.

Mourinho told a news conference that he would not leave out midfielders Cesc Fabregas or Nemanja Matic from Sunday's west London derby away to QPR, although both are only one yellow card away from suspension.

"The game is a three-point game," he said. "It doesn't make any sense to think about some matches and not about others. We have to play with our maximum power.

"Nobody is expecting an easy match. Last weekend we played against a team that is very stable in the middle of the table and they were fantastic in their approach, their commitment, trying to win the match or not lose it."

Chelsea have been top of the table since the third game of the season, which their manager said shows "consistency, stability, dominance".

He would not be drawn, however, on transfer speculation involving Japanese striker Yoshinori Muto of FC Tokyo, whom Chelsea are reported to have made a bid for.