Arsenal v Leyton Orient:ARSENAL WILL be without Robin van Persie for the return leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona after the Netherlands forward was ruled out for at least three weeks with the knee injury sustained in Sunday's League Cup final.
The in-form 27-year-old Netherlands striker sustained the injury in the act of scoring Arsenal’s equaliser during the 2-1 defeat at Wembley.
Arsene Wenger confirmed more encouraging news on his captain, Cesc Fabregas, who could yet recover from hamstring trouble to feature at the Camp Nou next Tuesday, but the loss of Van Persie, together with that of Theo Walcott, represents a serious blow to Arsenal’s prospects.
Walcott, who had already been ruled out against Barcelona, remains a fortnight away from recovering from his sprained ankle.
“He is out. We said from the day he got the injury against Stoke you could count three weeks,” said Wenger.
Van Persie, meanwhile, was enjoying his most prolific spell at the club, with his goal at Wembley his 13th in 11 games since the turn of the year, only to limp away after scoring his side’s equaliser against Birmingham City.
The injury forced him off after 68 minutes and scans have now revealed the extent of the damage.
“Unfortunately, we had bad news and he will be out for the next three weeks for sure,” Wenger said.
“It could be longer. The shortest delay we can imagine is three weeks [so] he is definitely out for Barcelona.
“Cesc is looking possible [for that game]. He is making quick and good progress. It is possible.”
Fabregas will miss this evening’s FA Cup fifth-round replay at Leyton Orient along with Alex Song, who was kicked and suffered slight bruising to his knee on Sunday, and both Laurent Koscielny (tight hamstring) and Wojciech Szczesny (rested), the players involved in the calamitous concession of Birmingham’s winner. All three will be available for the trip to Spain, while Manuel Almunia and Abou Diaby will start this evening.
Wenger confirmed he has spoken to Sczcesny and Koscielny about the indecision that presented Obafemi Martins with Birmingham’s winning goal, with the manager’s concern centring in particular on the centre half.
“I have [spoken to them], not too much – more to Laurent Koscielny because he suffered more,” Wenger said. “You have to be realistic, analyse in a realistic way what you did wrong.
“But Koscielny has been a great player for us since the start of the season, so it’s important he keeps his confidence level well and that he gets encouragement.
“He takes everything on board and we do not want his confidence to drop because he certainly made a mistake.
“He is really angry about it. We have, as well, to show that we support him and that we believe he is a fantastic defender.
“Wojciech is all right, there was more of a misunderstanding. In the last second, he didn’t cut through, Koscielny, because he thought he saw Wojciech coming out. Then he had a hesitation and that hesitation was fatal. But we move on. We are in a massive race in the championship, we have an opportunity to qualify in the FA Cup and we have won the first leg in the Champions League. We have much higher targets than the League Cup, even though we would have loved to have won it.”
Orient’s FA Cup hero Jonathan Tehoue has recovered from his migraine and will be fit.
Captain Steve Dawson has an outside chance of playing after it emerged the knee injury he suffered against Huddersfield is not as bad as first feared, but Harry Kane is suspended after being sent off in the same match.
Ryan Jarvis and Moses Odubajo are cup-tied, while there are doubts over Matthew Spring (calf) and Jimmy Smith (hamstring).
One bit of good news for Russell Slade’s side is that Jason Crowe is available again after suffering no ill-effects on his ankle injury in training.
Guardian Service
