Drogba the legend has been an inspiration for me, says Costa

The Clarets boast a formidable home record this season, but welcome a team who have won 16 of their last 18 matches to establish themselves as champions-elect.

Despite all the insistence from Blues manager Antonio Conte - and indeed the bosses of rival teams - that the title race is not over, it would take a dramatic collapse for Chelsea to throw it all away now.

And Costa has been key to his side's success and is on course to win his second Premier League title in three years at Chelsea and top the scoring charts.

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He has scored 51 goals in 103 appearances since joining Chelsea from Atlético Madrid in 2014 and has credited Drogba with having a major impact on his good form.

Drogba was part of the squad who won the Premier League title during Costa's first season at Stamford Bridge, but the Spain international was a big fan of the Ivorian before playing with him.

"I have always seen Drogba as the example to follow in terms of a centreforward," said Costa. "He was strong and scored loads of goals and he was a quality player. Just watching him train helped me. Just seeing him, I was amazed. This is because I specifically used to watch Chelsea [before he joined], who are a big club, just to see Drogba. I even liked watching him when he played for the Ivory Coast.

"When I arrived here, he was never cold with me, quite the opposite. I wasn't exactly scared of him, but he was such a legend who had helped the club grow and been a part of all that."

Drogba won 12 major trophies at Chelsea and was voted the club's greatest player by the fans in 2012.

On Chelsea TV, Costa added: "He made history here, so could have been dismissive of me, but, no, he was always fantastic with me. I will always have fond memories of him and whenever I see him, I thank him."

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Costa has had an up-and-down relationship with the Chelsea fans, who idolised him during his first season but turned on him and other members of the squad when things went wrong under Jose Mourinho last season.

There was the potential for more problems when Costa was dropped after a row with current head coach Antonio Conte over an injury and interest from China, but the fans have largely stuck by the 28-year-old, though he could leave at the end of the season.

"Not just the fans at the ground, but the other Chelsea supporters and my team-mates, have shown they care about me and I feel the same about them, too," he said.

Costa has been caught up in controversial incidents with opponents, officials and his managers in England. "Perhaps you could say it comes from when I used to play in the streets [back in Brazil], playing alongside my brother and cousins," said Costa.

"I always wanted to win. Sometimes I might go overboard, whereas there are others who, yes, they want to win, but if they don't it's no big deal for them."

- The Daily Telegraph