Henry and Lehmann to miss Champions League qualifierThierry Henry and Jens Lehmann will not play in the Champions League qualifying round first leg tie next week.
Both players were involved in the latter stages of the World Cup and therefore neither has returned to pre-season training yet. Arsène Wenger does not have the option of playing his No 1 choice keeper after his dismissal in the Champions League Final and, speaking after the 8-1 win at Schwadorf, he revealed that Henry would not be risked.
“Jens is suspended and Thierry will be short as well,” said Wenger. “He comes back on August 2 so it is very short until August 9.”
The remainder of the first-team squad have just returned from seven days at an Austrian training camp. They ended their excursion by winning 8-1 at Schwadorf on Monday night. Wenger admitted that the squad who travel to play Zagreb or Ekranas would be basically the one which beat the Austrian division three outfit. However there were two omissions from that game. One is likely to be fit for the qualifier, the other’s fitness is a little further behind.
“Tomas Rosicky is OK,” said Wenger. “Theo Walcott is a bit short. He has had a virus so he has not practised well. He’ll be fine in two weeks but I may give him a run out on Friday [at Alkmaar]. I don’t know yet it depends.
“He was down physically and we have had to build him up. The fittest players will play [in the qualifier] whether it means Walcott or not I don’t know yet.”
Diaby is expected to make his comeback in NovemberArsenal’s trio of injured youngsters are unlikely to return before October.
The recuperation of Gael Clichy (foot), Philippe Senderos (shoulder) and Abou Diaby (ankle) is “quite good” according to Arsène Wenger and this news should not be treated as a setback. However they are all set to miss the first six weeks of the season.
Diaby probably suffered the worst injury, a fractured and dislocated ankle sustained at Sunderland on May 1. However the 20-year-old is recovering well.
“He is in front of what we expected for him,” said Wenger. “But it is November at the earliest for him.
“In fact the news is quite good for Diaby, Clichy and Senderos," Wenger added. "But the first [of these] players will be back in October, not before.”
As Arsenal.com revealed last week, Freddie Ljungberg is likely to miss the Premiership opener against Aston Villa but his ankle problem is unlikely to sideline him much beyond that.
“Ljungberg is doing well,” said Wenger. “He may not be there for the first game of the season but [he will be there] early around the start.”
Paddypower.com Bet of the Week
0 comments:
Post a Comment