Remy earns Mourinho plaudits

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has praised Loic Remy with the French striker set to play a key role for the Blues as they close in on the Premier League title.

Remy, 28, has had to bide his time at Stamford Bridge since moving from QPR last summer, but he has come to the fore in recent weeks and netted the winning goal in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Stoke. 

"He's a great boy and his contribution for us is already crucial with these two match-winners in the last two matches," said Mourinho, whose side are seven points clear at the top of the table with eight matches remaining."

"He trains fantastically well. He keeps himself in great condition to come to matches, even without many, many minutes to be ready for us, so I'm really pleased and everybody's pleased for him."

Remy's goal against Stoke came after Asmir Begovic's poor thrown clearance was intercepted by Willian and he passed to Eden Hazard, who set up the striker for a simple finish. 

"He sprinted to score what I call an easy goal," Mourinho added.

"But I love strikers to score easy goals. The tap-in when the goalkeeper has an incomplete save, attack the ball in a low cross, rebounds - I love the easy goals from a striker. So I'm really happy with him."

Diego Costa limped off with a recurrence of his hamstring injury after coming on as a half-time substitute and is facing at least two weeks on the sidelines according to Mourinho.

...SkySports