Chelsea Team News: Conte Confirms Huge Boost Ahead Of Hull Clash

Chelsea will be looking to cement their position at the top of the table with a win when they take on Hull City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. 

Ahead of the game, Antonio Conte has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s given Chelseafc.com a team news and injury update.

The Blues boss was pleased to confirm a huge boost with the news that Diego Costa is fit and available for selection this weekend after recovering from a supposed back injury.

Costa was left out of the squad for last weekend’s win at Leicester City following a bust-up with Conte and a member of his backroom staff after the striker complained of having a back injury despite being given the all-clear by the clubs doctor.

The row erupted amid reported interest from China with Costa reportedly being offered record wages to make the move to the Chinese Super League before the close of the January transfer window.

However, Chelsea refused to entertain the idea of selling their top scorer mid-season so Costa settled his differences with Conte and returned to take part in full training with the rest of the first team squad on Tuesday.

When quizzed about the reported interest being shown in Costa from China, Conte insisted that the 28-year-old is happy to stay at Stamford Bridge and leaving the club is ‘far in his mind’ right now.

Conte is quoted as saying by the clubs website:

‘Yes, he’s [Costa] available for the game against Hull. He started training on Tuesday with the team and he trained very well. He doesn’t have the pain in his back so for this reason he’s available for the game.

‘On Sunday and Monday Diego was training so he could work with the team on Tuesday. He trained with a fitness coach, not alone. It’s important to know this. He started training very well to come back on Tuesday. He did that to prepare his body to have a good session on Tuesday.

‘Diego is an important player for us, we all know this. When he stays in good form he’s always great.’

‘The player wants to stay at Chelsea, he’s very happy to play with us. This idea (leaving) is far in his mind, he’s happy to stay here and that’s the most important thing for us. I don’t see any problem with him.’

The news will come as a huge boost to Chelsea as the Costa row threatened to derail what’s been a superb campaign so far but it looks as though they’ve put the matter to bed and are concentrating on taking the title back to west London.

Chelsea suffered no fresh injury concerns following last weeks win over Leicester so Conte now has a fully-fit squad to choose from as he looks for a win over Hull which would see them at least maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.

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