West
Ham manager Sam Allardyce has warned his defenders not to make Diego Costa
angry in Wednesday's Premier League match-up.
Costa has scored 17 goals during an impressive debut season at Chelsea but
has also courted controversy with his bullish and combative style of play.
The 26-year-old was handed a three-match ban in January for stamping on
Liverpool's Emre Can, and has picked up eight yellow cards leaving him just
two cautions away from another suspension.
"We're not to get involved with him, our central defenders are not to get
involved with how he might upset them," Allardyce said.
"People say he's an old-fashioned centre forward because he seems to get
motivated by the physical and niggly aspect of it so we're not to get
involved in that.
"I don't think it winds him up - it winds him up to make him better which is
a silly thing to do.
"He winds defenders up too, he'll do a bit of digging and niggling himself
which is all part of how good he is.
"He's one of many we need to shackle down and if we are to keep him quiet we
need to limit the service that is given to him."
Costa has failed to find the net in the last five matches but it was his
strike that deflected in off Kyle Walker as Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0 in
the Capital One Cup final on Sunday.
"You can tag him for quite a while in some cases and then all of a sudden he
pops up and however he seems to score it seems to go in the back of the
net," Allardyce said.
"That might be good fortune or his expertise as a finisher - he can head
them in, scuff them in, mis-kick them in, hit them in sweet, hit them in
through the legs, deflect them in off the defender - it shows his great
ability to score goals.
"He has scored all types of goals throughout the season, which is why he
looks like one of the few who can go better than the 20-mark in one season."
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