Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has vowed to field as strong a side as possible at Portsmouth on Saturday, but has seen his plans once again hit by injury.
With the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United on Tuesday night, the Gunners boss could have been forgiven if he opted for something of a makeshift XI at Fratton Park.
Wenger, though, has not yet given up hope of overhauling Chelsea, currently six points ahead, and wants to make sure of at least a top-four finish.
Nevertheless, Arsenal will head to the south coast without leading scorer Robin van Persie (groin), who faces a fitness battle to face United, while Croatia striker Eduardo and defender Mikael Silvestre have both been hit by similar problems. Regular left-back Gael Clichy (back) has already been ruled out of both matches.
Wenger will at least have Andrey Arshavin available after the Russian playmaker was ineligible for European competition as Arsenal look to extend an unbeaten leg run of 20 matches.
"I want to give some players a breather who need one," said the Gunners boss, "but as well it is very important for us to get closer to Chelsea and I do not want to give any hope to [Aston] Villa either.We want to keep our run going and win the game."
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I agree deathzone it does get a bit frustrating the squad size ! 2 backup defenders are needed for next season hopefully at least one well seasoned one ....
I think its fair to say we have had an unclucky season with injuries but most clubs can say the same
Well this always happens,we don't have a big enough squad to deal with in injurys like this it has been proven all season yes we have down well with what we have got in terms of the squad but where would we be if we had the strenght and depth of others teams above us in the league that is th equestion you should be asking yourself wenger. Sort this out in the closed season wenger and we will win something.
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