Mourinho won't appeal or repeat laundry basket stunt

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has not appealed his
stadium ban and will miss Saturday's Premier League
game at Stoke City.

Jose Mourinho has decided not to appeal his stadium ban which
will prevent him from sitting in the Chelsea dugout at Stoke City
on Saturday.

Mourinho also insisted he will not attempt any underhand
methods to get into the Britannia Stadium - he is rumoured to
have hidden in a laundry basket in a bid to avoid a similar
sanction in the 2005 Champions League quarter-final against
Bayern Munich.

This time the Portuguese will play by the rules and opted not to
fight the one-match punishment handed down by the Football
Association following his red card at West Ham as he has "given
up" trying to fight authority.

He said at Friday's media conference: "No [I have not
appealed]. The match is tomorrow. I know the result of that
appeal already and I have decided to give up. I don't speak
about [whether it was a hard decision]. It is stupid to fight a
fight that you know you have already lost.

"There is no temptation [to do the laundry basket]. I know the
situation where I am in relation to the football powers in this
country and I have to adapt to it. With Mourinho the funny
stories are over.

"I will travel with the squad and I will be with them until the
moment somebody stops me which is I think when I am in
the compound of the stadium when I have to stop being with the
players. I have to get out of the bus before the stadium. I don't
know [where I will watch the game]."

Chelsea will leapfrog Stoke with a victory, though they have lost
three of their last four Premier League matches to leave the
defending champions struggling in 15th.