Didier Drogba is injured and Diego Costa is hardly training, according to Jose Mourinho.If Loic Remy ever wanted an opportunity to properly announce his arrival at Chelsea, he's got it this week when Mourinho returns to his homeland, leading his team out against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.Remy only joined Chelsea last month ahead of the transfer window closing, with the international break and form of Costa restricting him to one start and three substitute appearances for his new club.The Frenchman scored on his debut in the 4-2 defeat of Swansea City to immediately endear himself to the Stamford Bridge crowd, only now it's a little different.The stakes are higher, this is the Champions League and big things are expected."Drogba is going to be out for a couple of weeks," Mourinho confirmed ahead of the Sporting fixture, per ChelseaFC.com.The Chelsea boss was his usually bullish self when he confirmed Costa will start the game, too.That announcement came as a surprise given that, on the back of Chelsea continuing their unbeaten run this season against Aston Villa at the weekend, Mourinho explained his leading goalscorer was continuing to struggle with a hamstring injury."He's doing almost nothing in training. He's just resting and recovering from the tight muscle he has," Mourinho said.Remy would have been hoping to start against Sporting on the back of the above, but even settling for a place as the only striker on the subs bench gives him a chance to impress.Five days after traveling to Portugal, Chelsea face Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.Mourinho enjoys nothing more than getting one over on his old adversary Arsene Wenger, and besides that, a victory will cement Chelsea's position as title favourites, even if we will be just seven games into the campaign.It's a massive occasionone of epic proportionsand Costa will be the headline attraction."At the moment, I dont think about Arsenal, I think about Sporting and Diego starts tomorrow," Mourinho continued on the Chelsea website."There is a risk, yes, but he plays. We assume the risk and he plays. Hopefully everything goes well and hopefully from Tuesday to Sunday he has enough period of time to be back on track and play against Arsenal."What that means is Costa will not be playing the full 90 minutes if the manager has his way. It's going to be smash and grab against Sporting in the sense this game will be killed off early.That's the tactic.From there, Remy will pick up the leftovers of Costa's work. And without the considerable shadow of Drogba hanging over him, now is the time for the former QPR striker to make his mark.Remy could have remained at Loftus Road this season and enjoyed regular first-team football, but instead opted for opportunities like this at one of Europe's leading clubs.It was a brave move knowing Costa would often be ahead of him in the pecking order, yet he is being gifted the chance to make a name for himself now.For too long Chelsea's strikers have come under scrutiny for not producing when it's mattered, not making the most of the chances that come their way.Costa's bucked the trend this season, and with Drogba out of the picture, Remy can join him in writing the positive headlines.Drogba may be 36, although his reputation is such that a big performance from him at any stage of the season will keep him level-pegged in Mourinho's mind with Remy.He has that valuable commodity every player cravesthe trust of his manager. A month into his Chelsea career, Remy has much to do if he is to gain it from Mourinho.It all starts against Sporting. A good showing when his chance comes inside the Estadio Jose Alvalade and suddenly the momentum will carry over to Arsenal and into the international break.Remy's time has come and he needs to seize it.All quotes taken firsthand unless otherwise noted.Vote for Garry Hayes as the best established football writer in the 2014 Football Blogging Awards: http://bit.ly/1tYctFiGarry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayesRead more World Football news on BleacherReport.com
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