Antonio Conte has urged Chelsea fans not to boo bad boy striker Diego Costa.
Conte is planning to recall Costa to his starting line-up to face Hull even after the Chelsea striker’s meltdown and push for a mega money move to China.
Blues boss Conte even used an Italian expression – “put your hands in the fire” – to insist that he trusts Costa to be “100 per cent” focused and urged the supporters to back him.
Conte said: “Our fans are really important, always. They push a lot when we play at home. They push a lot when we play away. And, for us, for me, they are the 12th player on the pitch.
“I hope they continue in this way, to push a lot for our team, my players, in every moment of the game. They are a really important part for us to try and win and try and continue to fight for the title.
“Every time Diego played for Chelsea, he always put all himself into it for this shirt, for this club. This is the most important thing. I know this and I’m pleased for this.
“For this reason, I’m sure on Sunday that, if Diego starts the game, he’ll put all himself into it for this club, the shirt and the fans, and do everything he can to win the game.
“I can put my hands in the fire. In Italy, if you put your hands in the fire, it means you are certain 100 per cent. I thought the same example was good in English. We can learn. It means you trust 100 per cent the situation.”
Conte diplomatically put Costa’s absence in last week’s win at Leicester down to a back injury rather than his training ground meltdown after his head was turned by a £30m-a-year offer from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian.
It still seems almost certain that Costa will leave Chelsea in the summer as they have become exasperated by his behaviour.
Costa admitted he wanted to quit last summer and then had a furious training ground row with Conte and his staff last week which will ultimately spell the end of his Stamford Bridge career.
Talks over a new £200,000-a-week contract have effectively been shelved as Chelsea now look for a successor with Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku on their list of targets.
A timely truce has been called until the summer with Conte likely to put Costa straight back in as they trained yesterday with him up front and Eden Hazard and Pedro either side. Willian is likely to miss out.
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