Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho admits he owes match-winner Loic Remy more game time with Diego Costa's latest hamstring problem possibly providing an opening.

The striker has started just three Barclays Premier League matches since his summer switch from QPR but stepped off the bench to score the winner in Sunday's 3-2 victory at Hull.

Remy was only on the pitch as a result of Costa's latest injury breakdown, but converted less than two minutes later to restore the Blues' six-point lead at the top of the table.

Costa will undergo scans in London on Monday, with Spain monitoring the situation ahead of games against Ukraine and Holland.

Mourinho, meanwhile, could use any absence to repay a debt to Remy,

"Probably he deserves more than what I give him," Mourinho said.

"Sometimes, not many times, a coach can feel he owes something to a player. With Remy that is the case, I think I owe him something.

"Every time he plays he gives us a lot. I'm so happy for him because he deserves it. He never complains."

Hull v Chelsea - player ratings 22 show all Hull v Chelsea - player ratings 1/22 Allan McGregor: 5 Unfortunate to see the ball trickle through his legs following Remy’s effort but that was the moment Hull effectively lost the match. 2/22 Michael Dawson: 5 Stood off Hazard as the Belgian opened the scoring for Chelsea. His experience undone by the winger’s pace and skill. 3/22 Alex Bruce: 6 In the centre of the Hull defence throughout and he played with a lot of desire and determination. He can’t be too displeased with his display. 4/22 Paul McShane: 6 Similar to Dawson, the centre-back allowed Hazard to get away from him as Chelsea took an early lead. 5/22 Ahmed Elmohamady: 7 Showed tremendous endeavour to frequently get forward on the counter attack. He was rewarded when he got on the end of Robertson’s cross and finished past Courtois. 6/22 Jake Livermore: 6 Enjoyed battling with Costa throughout the match. He forced Courtois into making a very strong save in the second half. 7/22 David Meyler: 6 A little rash with some of his challenges but his good organisation kept Hull’s midfield structured and able to combat Chelsea’s neat passing. 8/22 Gaston Ramirez: 6 His shooting needs a lot of work but his overall work rate was exceptional and he gave N’Doye good service as well. 9/22 Andrew Robertson: 7 Industrious down the left. His superb run allowed him the time and space to play a perfectly weighted cross which Elmohamady finished. 10/22 Dame N'Doye: 6 He used his strength very well to unsettle Cahill. He is forming a good partnership with Hernandez. 11/22 Abel Hernandez: 7 Gambled brilliantly when Courtois’s heavy touch presented him with the opportunity to level the scores at 2-2. 12/22 Thibaut Courtois: 6 Made a calamitous error when his heavy touch presented Hernandez with an easy opportunity for him to equalise. Redeemed himself a little when he saved three shots one after the other with the scores level. GETTY 13/22 Branislav Ivanovic: 6 Not as assured as he has been in recent weeks and too often he was beaten by Robertson. He was vital in stemming the flow of Hull’s flurry of attack late on, though. GETTY 14/22 Gary Cahill: 6 Made an excellent tackle on N’Doye to prevent the striker from getting one-on-one with Courtois. GETTY 15/22 John Terry: 6 Organised his defence well even if they were slow to react to Hull’s first goal. He’ll be disappointed that he allowed himself to get involved in a war of words with N’Doye. GETTY 16/22 Filipe Luis: 6 Allowed Elmohamady to get away from him when the Egyptian scored Hull’s first goal. He became much more effective in the second half when he started to penetrate the left flank. GETTY 17/22 Cesc Fabregas: 7 Criticised recently for being too slow to progress play but here he was superb. He linked up attack and midfield excellently and provided the assist for Costa’s goal. GETTY 18/22 Nemanja Matic: 6 He’s lost his impact in the last few matches and against Hull he wasn’t particularly impressive either. He was a little rash with his tackles too, particularly on Aluko late in the game. GETTY 19/22 Willian: 7 Provided the assist for Remy’s winner and he worked incredibly hard before being substituted late in the second half. GETTY 20/22 Eden Hazard: 7 A constant threat to Hull’s defence. Excellent individual piece of work to put Chelsea into the lead early on in the first half. GETTY 21/22 Diego Costa: 7 His usual bullish self. The Hull players tried their best to wind up the Spanish striker and he did well to keep his cool. His goal to send Chelsea 2-0 up was impeccably well taken too. GETTY 22/22 Loic Remy: 7 Scored the winner for Chelsea. His ability to run in behind exposed Hull’s poor defending late on in the match. Getty 1/22 Allan McGregor: 5 Unfortunate to see the ball trickle through his legs following Remy’s effort but that was the moment Hull effectively lost the match. 2/22 Michael Dawson: 5 Stood off Hazard as the Belgian opened the scoring for Chelsea. His experience undone by the winger’s pace and skill. 3/22 Alex Bruce: 6 In the centre of the Hull defence throughout and he played with a lot of desire and determination. He can’t be too displeased with his display. 4/22 Paul McShane: 6 Similar to Dawson, the centre-back allowed Hazard to get away from him as Chelsea took an early lead. 5/22 Ahmed Elmohamady: 7 Showed tremendous endeavour to frequently get forward on the counter attack. He was rewarded when he got on the end of Robertson’s cross and finished past Courtois. 6/22 Jake Livermore: 6 Enjoyed battling with Costa throughout the match. He forced Courtois into making a very strong save in the second half. 7/22 David Meyler: 6 A little rash with some of his challenges but his good organisation kept Hull’s midfield structured and able to combat Chelsea’s neat passing. 8/22 Gaston Ramirez: 6 His shooting needs a lot of work but his overall work rate was exceptional and he gave N’Doye good service as well. 9/22 Andrew Robertson: 7 Industrious down the left. His superb run allowed him the time and space to play a perfectly weighted cross which Elmohamady finished. 10/22 Dame N'Doye: 6 He used his strength very well to unsettle Cahill. He is forming a good partnership with Hernandez. 11/22 Abel Hernandez: 7 Gambled brilliantly when Courtois’s heavy touch presented him with the opportunity to level the scores at 2-2. 12/22 Thibaut Courtois: 6 Made a calamitous error when his heavy touch presented Hernandez with an easy opportunity for him to equalise. Redeemed himself a little when he saved three shots one after the other with the scores level. GETTY 13/22 Branislav Ivanovic: 6 Not as assured as he has been in recent weeks and too often he was beaten by Robertson. He was vital in stemming the flow of Hull’s flurry of attack late on, though. GETTY 14/22 Gary Cahill: 6 Made an excellent tackle on N’Doye to prevent the striker from getting one-on-one with Courtois. GETTY 15/22 John Terry: 6 Organised his defence well even if they were slow to react to Hull’s first goal. He’ll be disappointed that he allowed himself to get involved in a war of words with N’Doye. GETTY 16/22 Filipe Luis: 6 Allowed Elmohamady to get away from him when the Egyptian scored Hull’s first goal. He became much more effective in the second half when he started to penetrate the left flank. GETTY 17/22 Cesc Fabregas: 7 Criticised recently for being too slow to progress play but here he was superb. He linked up attack and midfield excellently and provided the assist for Costa’s goal. GETTY 18/22 Nemanja Matic: 6 He’s lost his impact in the last few matches and against Hull he wasn’t particularly impressive either. He was a little rash with his tackles too, particularly on Aluko late in the game. GETTY 19/22 Willian: 7 Provided the assist for Remy’s winner and he worked incredibly hard before being substituted late in the second half. GETTY 20/22 Eden Hazard: 7 A constant threat to Hull’s defence. Excellent individual piece of work to put Chelsea into the lead early on in the first half. GETTY 21/22 Diego Costa: 7 His usual bullish self. The Hull players tried their best to wind up the Spanish striker and he did well to keep his cool. His goal to send Chelsea 2-0 up was impeccably well taken too. GETTY 22/22 Loic Remy: 7 Scored the winner for Chelsea. His ability to run in behind exposed Hull’s poor defending late on in the match. Getty

Costa is one of just three strikers in the Spain squad and though they would be keen to have him aboard, Mourinho spoke with concern about his fitness travails.

"He has this problem. He tried to play the Champions League final for Atletico (Madrid, last season) and was injured again and again and again. He has this fragility," the Portuguese added.

"We know his hamstring is not a strong one. He works hard through the week to compensate the weakness he has there but the injury can come.

"If he is injured then we have Remy, we have (Didier) Drogba. We never cry about injured players."

Costa, who earlier curled home his 20th goal of the campaign, may also hear more about an apparent elbow on Hull's Jake Livermore in the second half, which was picked up by television cameras but not by match officials.

Chelsea looked to be coasting at 2-0 up inside nine minutes but, after Ahmed Elmohamady and Abel Hernandez scored within seconds of each other, Hull at times threatened to take all three points.

MATCH REPORT: HULL CITY 2 CHELSEA 3

As it was, Chelsea were triumphant and left Mourinho feeling good about the title race.

"I'm not pretty sure, I'm pretty confident. I believe in my players, I believe that we can do it but I know it's difficult," he added.

At one stage Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois looked like he may have cost his side the win, having presented Hernandez with an open net for the equaliser.

But he more than made up for that error with a series of interventions, not least a remarkable triple block from Elmohamady, Livermore and Gaston Ramirez.

Tigers boss Steve Bruce was left to rue that moment at full-time.

"The big turning point in the game was where Courtois pulls off three saves which change the course of the game," he said.

"But that's as good as we've played for a long, long time, against the best team in England.

"We're obviously disappointed to lose the game because I don't think we deserved that.

"We gave Chelsea a hell of a run for their money."