Fernando Torres has not been selected for Spain's two upcoming friendlies.

The Chelsea striker has begun to show flashes of his old form of late, but has been cruelly set back by a leg injury.

His club manager Jose Mourinho has said that he will most likely miss his next two matches, meaning Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque has had no chance but to drop the forward.

One step forward, two steps back: Torres picked up a high-leg injury during training on Monday and could miss another three games

Transcending boundaries: Brazilian-born Diego Costa could soon be Spain's number one striker, with 13 goals in the league already

Torres' unavailability has heaped even more pressure on the high profile selection of Atletico Madrid hitman Diego Costa.

Costa has already featured in two friendlies for Brazil but could still switch to Spain as he never played a competitive match. The Atletico Madrid striker has publicly declared his desire to suit up for Spain - despite the World Cup taking place in Brazil.

'Seven months before the World Cup, we thought it would be a convenient time to try him out. He's going to provide a lot of solutions for us in attack,' Del Bosque said on Thursday before warning that
the tournament in Brazil was still a long way away.

'This doesn't mean he's in the [World Cup] squad. There's still time between now and the World Cup. There's no unlimited credit for any player on this team.'

Costa will become the fifth Brazilian-born player to play for Spain.

The last Spanish-naturalized Brazilian to feature for Spain was midfielder Marcos Senna, who was an integral part of the Spain side which won at the 2008 European Championship - their first major title in 44 years.

'I don't think this will be a difficult integration. Diego has shown he wants to play for Spain. I don't think [he'll] have any problems adapting to our system,' said Del Bosque, who maintained Spain showed no disrespect toward the Brazilian federation and its manager Luiz Felipe Scolari in its recruitment of Costa.

'We acted with the usual discretion and respect as we always do in all matters.'

Costa will already be familiar with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa, who is also in the squad.

Xabi Alonso returns to the fold after being sidelined since the summer by injury, whilst his Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas is selected once again, despite now playing second-fiddle to 'keeper Diego Lopez.

Del Bosque left Gerard Pique off the team with the Barcelona player struggling with a hamstring problem. Xavi was also rested.

With Torres' absense, just five Premier League players have made the cut: Arsenal's Nacho Monreal and Santi Cazorla, Manchester City's Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo, and Chelsea's Juan Mata.

Spain will play their two friendlies in Guinea on November 16th and South Africa three days later.

See the full squad below.