• Premier League

Costa injury nothing serious, says Silva

David Silva says that Chelsea striker Diego Costa's hamstring injury is "nothing serious" despite his Spain team-mate withdrawing from the squad for their European Championship qualifier with Macedonia.

Costa sustained the problem during the team's 1-0 friendly defeat to France, and the Spanish FA said it would send the results of the scans to Chelsea.

Diego Costa has suffered from hamstring issues in recent months © Getty Images

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There have been concerns over Costa as he has suffered a number of hamstring issues in recent months, but Manchester City star Silva does not believe it is a major issue.

"I've spoken with Diego and, fortunately, it's nothing serious," he said, according to AS. "These things happen in football."

Costa, who opted to play for Spain despite interest from his native Brazil, has struggled to make an impact for the European champions after establishing himself as Vicente del Bosque's first-choice striker.

Nonetheless, Silva said: "We will eventually start connecting with Diego Costa because he is a great striker."

Silva also said he believes that, despite a disappointing summer, Spain should keep faith with their style of play, which brought success at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

"With the kind of football we play, we have won two European Championships and the World Cup - I don't see any need to change our style," he said.

"We have players like Cesc [Fabregas], [Andres] Iniesta, [Santi] Cazorla and others who know what Spain has achieved with our formula. The new players will gradually start adapting and we will improve in terms of possession and passing. New players have been brought on board and all of us need to adapt."

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