Premier League Roundup - Arsenal -- 29th Oct 2010
Arsenal's left back, Kieran Gibbs is expected to be out of action for a couple of weeks as the club's medical team has confirmed his knee ligament injury. The left back suffered the injury while playing against Newcastle United in the Carling Cup and was
off the field in the opening 18 minutes of Arsenal’s 4-0 victory. The player is expected to go through yet another scan today and that will tell the real extent of lay-off which he would have to experience.
However, there is also good news in the Arsenal camp as long injured forwards, Aaron Ramsey and Robin Van Persie are expected to return to full first team training by the end of next week, which would be a huge boost for the North London club. Despite this,
Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger expects more fitness work for both of these players before handing them their returns to the first team. Ramsey has been out of action since last February, when a harsh tackle by Stoke City centre back, Shawcross broke the
leg of the Welsh. Van Persie has also had injury plagued seasons for the past two years and Wenger would want the Dutch to be back to his full fitness before playing.
Goal keeper Manuel Almunia and defender Thomas Vermaelen are still out of action owing to their elbow and achilles injuries respectively while no time line as of yet has been given of their return. Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere are also expected to be unavailable
for this week’s fixture against West Ham.
"We lost Kieran Gibbs last night. That is the bad news. It is a medial knee ligament strain. It needs to be checked on the scan tomorrow but it will be a few weeks. We have nobody else back from Manchester City. Van Persie and Vermaelen are still out. Ramsey
and Almunia are not ready. So, it should be a similar squad to the one that played at Man City. But Van Persie and Ramsey are very close to coming back to full training now. They should be back in the group at the end of next week,” stated the Arsenal boss.
Arsenal would want to keep building on their unexpected win over Manchester City last weekend. The side is currently second in the Premier League and a fixture against Hammers is considered to be less tough. Wenger would want to bring out their best mix
in the encounter and would want to secure all three points in order to keep firm in the Premier League race this season. Kieran Gibbs’ injury may well prove costly for the North London club as the youngster has shown promise and talent in his 41 appearances
for Arsenal.
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