I won’t change my style, vows Blues Costa

Chelsea striker Diego Costa believes he is already a victim of his own reputation in England but insists he will never change his aggressive style.

Costa returned to domestic action against Burnley last weekend after serving a three-match ban for stamping on Liverpool’s Emre Can.

The combative forward maintains the altercation with Can was an innocent mistake but his first season at Stamford Bridge, which has included an impressive 18 goals, has been blighted by controversy.

Costa, who is likely to start against Tottenham in Sunday’s Capital One Cup final, admits he is a marked man now in this country but says he will be not holding back at Wembley.

“I’m not going to change my way of playing,” Costa said.

“I do know now that I have to be a little bit more careful because it’s not the same when I do something or when someone else does it.

“Something I do, it’s talked about much more than another player.

“I have to be extra careful but I’m never going to change the way I play. That’s what got me here, that’s the way I play.”

Costa scored in Chelsea’s 5-3 defeat to Tottenham in January but the 26-year-old has not found the net in his last four matches and is yet to notch in any cup competition this season.

“I’m running a little bit behind, trying to do my best, working hard and hopefully I’ll be 100%.

“I’m a striker, every game I play I want to score. If it hasn’t happened in the cup, I’m hoping to God it happens on Sunday.”

n Chelsea have announced The Yokohama Rubber Company Ltd as their shirt sponsor from next season in a five-year deal which is the Premier League leaders’ largest commercial deal to date. Chelsea, who agreed a 10-year kit deal with adidas worth in the region of £300million in June 2013. It’s reported the five-year contract is worth £40m per season, second only in the Premier League to Man United’s £47m yearly deal with Chevrolet.