Jose Mourinho takes aim at former Chelsea defender Graeme Le Saux

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Chelsea news: All the latest from Stamford Bridge
Graeme Le Saux and five others refused to travel to Israel in 2001
Le Saux, William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Albert Ferrer and captain Marcel Desailly were those who opted out
Jose Mourinho says none of his current players were afraid to travel
Blues face Maccabi Tel Aviv in Champions League on Tuesday
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho: 'I don't enjoy other people losing matches'

Published: 10:15 EST, 23 November 2015 | Updated: 11:56 EST, 23 November 2015

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Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Graeme Le Saux as he insisted none of his team were afraid to play in Israel.

Le Saux was one of six senior Chelsea players who refused to travel to a UEFA Cup game against Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2001, a month after the 9/11 terror attacks on the USA.

Fourteen years on, they return to play Maccabi Tel Aviv, in Haifa, less than a fortnight after 130 were killed in Paris, but Mourinho’s squad is as strong as it can be.

Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Graeme Le Saux, insisting none of his team were afraid to play in Israel

Le Saux was one of six senior Chelsea players who refused to travel to a game against Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2001

Boudewijn Zenden (right) in action for Chelsea in the game they lost 2-0 in Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup tie in October 2001

Baba Rahman (left), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (centre) and Gary Cahill in training

Branislav Ivanovic (centre) leads the way as Chelsea trained in Haifa on Monday

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic (front) in action as he prepares for the Champions League clash

The Chelsea manager said: ‘The best way is to focus on football and leave security questions to the people who know more than we do.

‘I didn’t have a problem, I didn’t have a Graeme Le Saux. I had everyone without fears, waiting to come.

‘I have a player who has a wife waiting to have a baby and he is here to play for us. Every two months, we have a new baby. The factory is working well.’

Le Saux, William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Albert Ferrer and captain Marcel Desailly were those who opted out in 2001.

Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea were beaten 2-0 by Hapoel and were unable to overturn the deficit in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Le Saux, a member of the FA’s inclusion advisory board, hit out at Mourinho’s treatment of Eva Carneiro, in a column in the Times last month, claiming it had set back the image of the game by 30 years.

‘The biggest disappointment for me is that Mourinho doesn’t seem to have reflected on the damage he has done to his own image,’ said Le Saux. ‘The reputation of the club and, more important, the reputation of the entire game.’

Captain John Terry practices with the ball during the session on Monday afternoon

The squad were training at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa ahead of the clash

Defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic (centre) was in high spirits ahead of Chelsea's clash

(Left-right) Eden Hazard, Kurt Zouma, Matic, Ivanovic and Cesc Fabregas in action

Chelsea's players take part in some drills at the side of the pitch at the stadium in Israel

Mourinho also heaped praise on striker Diego Costa, who scored his first first goal in eight appearances in the 1-0 victory at Norwich on Saturday.

‘For a striker it’s always important not to go for a long time without scoring,’ said Chelsea’s boss. They feel the pressure. They live on goals. If they don’t score for five matches then the pressure comes with everyone.

‘To score and to score the winning goal can have a positive influence. For the team, to win is good. But when we lost matches before Champions League matches, we always said let’s focus on that instead of the Premier League.’

Chelsea boss Mourinho heaped praise on striker Diego Costa after his goal against Norwich

The strike in the 1-0 win was the first for Costa in eight appearances for the club in all competitions

Midfield playmaker Hazard (right) attempts to take the ball away from Chelsea team-mate Costa

Brazilian midfielder Willian looks on in concentration as he stepped up his preparations

Striker Loic Remy (left) lead his team-mates in a training ground drill as they trained

Mourinho was confident that his side would qualify for the last 16 of the competition, and a win on Tuesday night would put them within touching distance of doing so.

‘We haven't qualified yet, but we have everything in our hands. We can still finish first. If not, second. But we depend on a result. It would be good for us to qualify [on Tuesday] and, to do that, we need a victory.

‘Even then it might not be enough. But it's important to try and win. If we play like we're playing, we have a chance.

'We did well against Norwich, and in previous matches where we lost, so try and keep on the same line. I like the confidence the team showed against Norwich under pressure needing to get a result. I think players are confident and getting their confidence back. Hopefully tomorrow we can do more.’