Diego Costa: "I'm no angel and I won't change"

Chelsea's 26-year-old Spanish striker Diego Costa, who is currently serving a three-match ban for a blatant stamp on Liverpool midfielder Emre Can's leg during their Capital One Cup semi-final tie last week, has publicly insisted that he will not change his physical style of play, despite many suggesting that he is too rough and deserves to be punished further for his actions on the pitch. 

He has admitted that he is "no angel" on the football pitch, but is adamant that he has never purposely intended to injure other players - something that has been previously hinted at in the media since he moved to England last summer. TV replays showed the forward stood on Can's leg during Chelsea's 1-0 extra-time victory over rivals Liverpool in the cup last Tuesday, as well as getting involved in conflict with Martin Skrtel and Steven Gerrard during the match.

Costa had this to say to the Daily Telegraph: "As far as what happened on Tuesday, the main thing is when I get home I can go home and I can go to sleep knowing that I've not done anything wrong, because I never meant to do that and it was not on purpose. And you can clearly see that on the video; but it is a suspension, I have to accept that - take it. Obviously I feel sad because I'm not going to be able to help the team, to play.

I'm not saying I'm an angel; I'm no angel - you can see that. But every time I play I will play the same way because that's the way I am; that's what I need to do in order to support my family. That's my bread and butter, also that's what I need to do for this club and for the fans of this club, for the supporters and for all the people involved. On the pitch I will always be like that - that's my character and I will always compete and compete. 

How many times have I injured someone? Never. I've never injured another colleague, another player on purpose. Yes, I've had loads of incidents, maybe even more in Spain. But that's the way I play. I'm not going to change the way I play because I got banned for a few games now." 

Chelsea fans will be hoping their star player continues his vein goalscoring form, as well as showing a physical side to his game which is relatively uncommon in the league, especially for strikers. Defenders are relatively nervous coming up against Costa, which is no surprise given his build, strength and fierce temper.