Thibaut Courtois out of Hull City clash due to injury

Thibaut Courtois is out of Chelsea's clash with Hull City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday after picking up a muscle injury.

He joins the suspended Cesc Fabregas on the sidelines for the visit of Hull City, with the Blues aiming to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle in their last league outing.

"Courtois had a little problem in training, a muscular problem, mainly he's not available for tomorrow," Jose Mourinho told reporters on Friday.

"Cesc has been amazing for us but he's suspended for tomorrow so we don't think about him. We trust the other players."

Petr Cech, who started in the Champions League in 3-1 win against Sporting on Wednesday, will therefore keep his place in goal at the weekend.

Mourinho added: "Petr Cech had our confidence even when Courtois was playing. We know what we have, he has absolutely nothing to prove.

"We are a completely different team to the one which played Hull at home last season," the Portuguese remarked of Saturday's opponents. "We are a better team, so are Hull.

"We are playing very well in almost every game, there hasn't been one bad performance. We cannot do any more than we are doing."

A consistent first XI was one of the reasons behind Chelsea's strong start to the season, but Mourinho accepts that he will have to rotate somewhat during the busy festive fixture list.

"I don't think any one player will play all six matches [between now and January 1]," he explained. "Maybe some will play five."