Chelsea's Diego Costa is the best 'pound-for-pound' striker in the Premier League, insists Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

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Sam Long15 February 2017

Diego Costa's 'mini goal drought' should not be a concern for Chelsea, according to former Blues striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Costa started the campaign in fine form to take control of the Premier League goalscoring charts but has gone off the boil in recent weeks.

The 28-year-old has failed to hit the net in his last three top-flight fixtures, with Costa's last goal arriving against Hull City almost four weeks ago.

Costa is now behind Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and Everton's Romelu Lukaku in the golden boots stakes but Hasselbaink is confident Antonio Conte should not be worried about his striker's form.

"Always as a striker you get those little spells where you don't score," Hasselbaink told Sky Sports News.

"You have to look at the attributes, at the amount of work he does and how much he creates.

"He's missed a penalty [against Liverpool] but that can happen. For me, pound-for-pound he's the best striker at the moment in the Premier League."

Standard Sport understands Chelsea have opened talks with Costa over a new contract but the Spaniard's hopes of doubling his salary to £300,000-a-week are unlikely.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are in a commanding position at the top of the table with just 13 games left to play.

However, Hasselbaink has backed his former club to claim their fifth title of the modern era with minimal fuss.

Chelsea's Premier League run-in

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"Chelsea have found a way of how to play, and they are very calm and relaxed within that, very confident.

"I don't see them losing three games out of the 13 games they have left. I think they will be too far ahead for the others," he added.

The majority of the Premier League elite will be in action in Europe this week but Chelsea have the luxury of a clear schedule before facing Wolves in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.

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