Diego Costa meets Chelsea Pensioners as club arrange London bus to take 50 fans to Wembley

Diego Costa welcomed two Chelsea Pensioners to Stamford Bridge on Friday as part of the club's initiative to take 50 fans to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley this weekend - in a traditional London bus.

Costa and the rest of his teammates prepared for their semi-final clash with London rivals Tottenham by training at Stamford Bridge on Friday morning before the striker made his way to the front of the ground to meet Derek Higby and Alister Sword.

Dressed in the Chelsea Pensioners' famous eye-catching red uniform coats, the pair met Costa before they took pictures in front of the blue bus which Chelsea will use to send them and 48 other Blues supporters from the Royal Hospital Chelsea to Wembley in.

The Chelsea Pensioners and the club share a long history together, with the Blues' 'Pensioners' nickname deriving from the well-established link between the two.

The Chelsea Pensioners reside at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which is home to retired soldiers of the British Army, and they attend every home game as guests of the club.

With the FA Cup semi-final against Spurs on Saturday, Chelsea decided to make the day even more special for 50 guests from the Royal Hospital by sending between 30 and 40 Chelsea Pensioners and about 10 nurses to the game in a special Routemaster bus.

Speaking about the initiative, Alister Sword said: "I come regularly to Stamford Bridge as a guest of Chelsea. We'll be going to Wembley as a big group and we'll have real fun. Lots of singing and shouting.

"It'll be an honour to go on the bus [to the game].

"I think it'll be 2-1 to us! I told Costa he has to score - no ifs and buts, he must score."

Derek Higby added: "I feel it might be 1-1, go to extra-time and then go to penalties. But I dont know if we'll win as penalties are luck."