Wenger’s Injury Update – Bad News On Vermaelen & Arteta

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has provided an injury update ahead of this weekends clash with Manchester United, and on the whole it’s not good news Gooners.

The week started on a positive note with the Evening Standard reporting that Vermaelen and Arteta were fit, and even Twitter rumours suggesting Sagna may also be back to face the champions. Finally we could see light at the end of the injury tunnel and it looked like we could be going in to a big game with something that resembled our first team.

But the optimism was short-lived, as we soon learn’t that Thierry Henry had picked up a calf strain in training and was a major doubt for Sunday’s game, and now Arsene has brought us firmly back down to earth with his latest injury update.

Speaking to Arsenal.com, the boss confirmed that Mikel Arteta and Bacary Sagna will definitely miss the match, Thierry will need a late fitness test and to make matters worse Thomas Vermaelen remains a major doubt with Wenger saying “he looks short” for this weekend.

The Frenchman also gave updates on the progress of other injured stars including Wilshere and Gibbs, here’s the update in full:

on Thomas Vermaelen (calf)

At the moment I don’t think he will make it for Sunday. Let’s hope we have a good surprise. Let’s see how he develops. There may be a test. At the moment we just go day by day but he looks short.

on Mikel Arteta (calf)…

He has no chance. The earliest for him is Aston Villa.

on Thierry Henry…

He will have a test on Saturday. He has a calf problem.

on Jack Wilshere (ankle)…

There is positive news about him because he is back to running after he had a little setback with the inflammation of his bone. He is able to go outside and practice but he is a few weeks away.

on Bacary Sagna (ankle) and Kieran Gibbs (groin)…

Both of them are about two to three weeks away.

on Francis Coquelin (hamstring)…

He is three, four or five days away from full training. I did not see him on Thursday but he is not far away. He could be available for Aston Villa.

on Lukasz Fabianski…

He is fit again.

on Carl Jenkinson (back)…

He is like Wilshere. He is back running but it will be a few weeks.

on Andre Santos (ankle)…

He is two months away. He is progressing well. We planned 12 weeks and he is on schedule.

So it looks like we could end up having a weaker squad against United than the one that lost to Swansea last week! Vermaelen is probably the most important player to have back in the side so let’s hope for a miracle there.

I was expecting Thierry to start if he was fit but that’s looks highly unlikely now, so Arshavin will no doubt continue on the left. I mean, it’s not like Arsene has the balls to start Chamberlain, does he?

So we head in to another huge game without half of our first team. No Sagna, no Vermaelen (probably), no Gibbs, no Arteta, no Wilshere, no Gervinho and perhaps no Henry either. The only saving grace is that United have their own injury problems to worry about.

However, lets end on a positive note. We should have Sagna, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere and Gervinho back in time for the Tottenham game on February 26th!