Chelsea’s poor form recently cost striker Diego Costa his first-team spot.

The striker had been named on the bench for the last two matches and this is a major warning to the rest of the team according to defender Branislav Ivanovic. The Serbian remains as one of the few underperforming players to have never been on the bench this season. Ivanovic has missed a couple of matches this season but it has been only due to injury. Costa has not taken Jose Mourinho’s decision lightly, but the Portuguese manager has stated that almost every top player like Terry, Fabregas, and Eden Hazard has spent time on the bench.

Costa recently reacted angrily towards Mourinho’s decision to not even bring him on as a substitute in the game against Tottenham. Eden Hazard was deployed as the makeshift striker and Mourinho did not feel the need to bring on Costa in the 90 minutes. The Spaniard reacted angrily by throwing a bib in the direction of the manager. His reactions were caught on camera and have created rumours about a dressing room rift. Ivanovic has tried to sort out the problem by claiming that the team is more important than individual names.

Hence, he wants the players to focus on recovering Chelsea’s form."We start the season as a team and we have to finish as a team. This is important. When we start losing, we all know it's not about the one or two players playing badly or playing well.It's about the team. Diego didn't play at Tottenham, but I know he'll be ready for the next game. He scored against Norwich – the winning goal – but it has to be all about the team in the moment,” said Ivanovic. Costa has scored only three league goals after having finished with 20 last season.