Arsenal boss confirms fresh injury blow

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Arsene Wenger has confirmed yet another blow with the news that Francis Coquelin is facing 12 weeks on the sidelines with a knee problem.

Coquelin was forced off in the 13th minute of our 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon after suffering a knee injury while making a routine tackle.

The boss confirmed on Monday at his pre-match press conference ahead our Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb that the midfielder had damaged ligaments and was facing around two months on the sidelines.

However, speaking after our 3-0 victory last night, Arsene told Arsenal.com that Coquelin will in fact be out for nearer 12 weeks – although the good news is he doesn’t require surgery.

The boss said:

on Coquelin’s scan…

It is what we feared basically. Let’s be realistic, it will be 12 weeks.

on if he requires surgery…

No. He does not need surgery. It was a knee ligament so it will be 12 weeks.

If this time-scale is accurate, then the 24-year-old won’t play again until mid-February. However, being Arsenal, I wouldn’t be surprised if Coquelin has a number of ‘minor setbacks’ that wouldn’t see him return until March.

So as most fans feared when we didn’t sign another holding midfielder in the summer, we’ve now lost Coquelin for at least three months. Arteta is also injured so it looks like we’ll have to rely on Flamini over the coming weeks.

There has been talk of Chambers being given a go in the role and I’d personally prefer him to Flamini, but a team with Arsenal’s aspirations shouldn’t be relying on a young defender deputising in an unfamiliar position.

Unfortunately, Arsene’s decision not to sign the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin in the summer has come back to haunt him. Let’s hope he doesn’t make the same mistake in January.

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