Mourinho gives latest Chelsea injury update ahead of Aston Villa trip

Jose Mourinho has hinted that Chelsea striker Fernando Torres could feature against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Spain international suffered a muscular injury during his warm-up ahead of Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

It’s not as bad as first feared. The dedication to the recovery process was brilliant

Jose Mourinho

The Chelsea manager initially feared that the 29-year-old could be sidelined for three weeks with the muscular problem after being sidelined with ligament and knee injuries already this season.

But Mourinho praised Torres and his medical staff for their work since the weekend, and the Chelsea manager said that he would assess the striker in the hours before Saturday’s clash.

“He is better, much better,” Mourinho told his pre-match media conference.

He added: “Maybe I take him tomorrow. Maybe I don’t take him and try everything for Tuesday. It depends on today’s training and the conversation after the training session.

“Yesterday, he looked ok. It’s not as bad as first feared. The dedication to the recovery process was brilliant.

“He is trying everything to recover. When you feel that little thing during the game, you don’t play. If you feel it during the game maybe with the adrenalin and temperature, you get through it. But we didn’t want to risk [last Saturday].

“We have to decide tomorrow or Tuesday.”

Mourinho confirmed that Ashley Cole and David Luiz haven’t recovered from their respective injuries which kept them out of last weekend’s London derby.

“No David, no Ashley,” Mourinho added.