Arsenal trio struck by injuries
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Article summary
Arsenal FC have learned that they must do without the services of three of their international players after they returned to the club with injuries.
Article body
Eboué absence
Manager Arsène Wenger revealed on Thursday that Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboué will be sidelined for a month with a knee injury, ruling the 23-year-old out of Arsenal's UEFA Champions League Group G matches at home and away to PFC CSKA Moskva. Meanwhile, midfielders Fredrik Ljungberg and Julio Baptista are also suffering from knocks following their national-team duty with Sweden and Brazil respectively. "Freddie has a calf injury, Emmanuel will miss three to four weeks with a medial knee ligament injury and Julio has a hamstring problem," said Wenger. "Unfortunately, when you have so many players away on international duty you can have some bad news."
Good news
The good news for Wenger is that France defender William Gallas is expected to be fit for Saturday's Premiership game against Watford FC, while Philippe Senderos and Gaël Clichy, who have been out all season with shoulder and foot injuries, are close to making first-team comebacks after playing for the reserves. "They are making good progress, but I do not know when they will be in the team," added Wenger. "They could be in the squad for one of the next two games - but they are still a bit short of match fitness."
