FA Cup - Walcott and Eduardo back for Arsenal

Eurosport - Thu, 05 Mar 19:38:00 2009

Theo Walcott and Eduardo will be included in the Arsenal squad for Sunday's FA Cup fifth round meeting with Burnley at the Emirates Stadium.

FOOTBALL Theo Walcott - 0

Walcott has not featured since dislocating his shoulder while on international duty with England ahead of their friendly with Germany in November.

Croatia striker Eduardo made an emotional return from his horrific leg break with two goals in last month's FA Cup victory over Cardiff before he suffered a hamstring injury in the same match.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed the duo are in his plans to face the Clarets but will wait until nearer kick-off before deciding if they will make the starting XI.

"I will see how they (Walcott and Eduardo) look tomorrow and Saturday but they will certainly be in the squad, especially Theo," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.

"We have to wait and see how Eduardo reacts and responds to his injury."

Kolo Toure will miss the clash after he suffered a calf injury in the midweek win over West Brom but Wenger is hopeful that William Gallas will be fit to return after he missed the Hawthorns fixture with an ankle problem.

Ivory Coast international Toure has been pencilled in to tackle Roma in the second leg of the Gunners' UEFA Champions League last-16 meeting next week, but striker Emmanuel Adebayor will not feature in the Italian capital on Wednesday due to his hamstring injury.

Wenger added: "We are quite optimistic about Kolo but we have to assess the situation today completely. I don't think I will involve him on Sunday. But Gallas should be back for Sunday and it looks to be like Kolo will be back for next week (against Roma).

"Adebayor is definitely out for Sunday and for Roma too."

The Frenchman is set to make changes to his squad for the FA Cup clash, but has warned his side they cannot afford to be distracted by the forthcoming European clash.

"Sunday is a big game for us and rotation will be there for some players who have played full games," said Wenger. "(Lukasz) Fabianski will continue in goal and we will try to have a good balance, a good quality.

"The most important thing for us is not to think about Roma, but to focus on this game and qualify. The best way to deal with the next game is to win this one."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. bunley will be a very difficult game with a lot of­ attack going but i have feeling that arsenal will go­ all the to the champion league final and this time get­ lucky but for tommorrws match i think bunley will have­ their work cut out for them becuase arsenal wpuld to­ get to the six round sorry but i cant see bunley­ causing and cup upset this time 3-0 god will brng­ success to every team that deserves it

    From Donna, on Sat 7 Mar 8:52PM

  2. This arsenal team has suffered enough, imagine 5 1st­ team players all out injured at the same time, is this­ bad lack or what?Walcot, Rosicky, Eduardo, Fabregas­ and Adebayor were all injured at the same­ time!!!Imagine Ronaldo, Rooney,Ferdinand Scholes and­ Gigs all injured at the same time, i guess man u will­ have suffered the same fate as arsenal.Now that they­ are coming back!!!!! expect clean rollover.

    From Sammy, on Fri 6 Mar 11:50AM

  3. Patience, Longsuffering,resillience a little bit of­ this and that and whaooh what are we seeing. It can­ only get better for this Arsenal team. Arshavin will­ come good, so will Rosicky and with Fabregas back and a­ bit of luck then this season, WE cannot be trophyless.­ Yep i'm an Arsenal fan but this is just being­ realistic. As for Villa, thanks guys for the wake up­ call, top 4 is not the exclusive preserve of ANY team.­ Mark my word, but i hope you guys will falter though.

    From Victor, on Fri 6 Mar 7:32AM

  4. Addy N, this team is on the ascendant this end of­ season. Players are returning from injury and the bad­ results and luck patch is looking more and more out. I­ am not an Arsenal fan but if I was a villa fan, I would­ be very scared..

    From Half A Brain, on Fri 6 Mar 6:08AM

  5. this team will be great rival for man u next­ season...trust me...

    From Addy N, on Fri 6 Mar 4:32AM

  6. If Fabregas comes back healthy and Van Persie is­ playing well as he's been. I can say that Arsenal­ may get the second spot afterall. I guess that's as­ far as they can do this season.

    From Joe Y, on Fri 6 Mar 2:29AM

  7. Great to see theo back, he was really only showing his­ true potential before he got injured,Blistering pace he­ gets a bit lost sometimes tough, as for eduardo hes my­ favourite player, kind of reminds me of roberto baggio­ mr ice in front of goal, it will be interesting to see­ our starting line up next yearwhen we have a full­ squad. Why oh why did we sell gilberto , how good was­ he against italy for brazil, hopfully diaby can fill­ that gap.

    From Ray R, on Fri 6 Mar 12:36AM

  8. Thanks to God!!!! it is good news. Ya Walcot and­ Eduardo have to do their best not only to FA but also­ for 4th in the premier league and to chamion­ league.
    Eduardo will probabily fill the Gap at Front.­ Also Winger has to do alot to learn to avoid to repaire­ is weakness and falt only at front.

    From nibret, on Thu 5 Mar 11:29PM

  9. yeah. this is a good game, come on gunner lets fired­ burnley

    From JRy, on Thu 5 Mar 9:40PM

  10. With Villa losing to city and some of our most­ important players returning to full fitness I am really­ confident about our run in and looking forward to­ seeing us get back to true form. Although I feel we can­ do well in the fa cup and champions league and progress­ to latter stages, I would be more delighted with­ finishing 4th in league as players will be more tempted­ to join us, as well as players wanting to stay at­ arsenal, if we could secure champions league football.

    From gavin, on Thu 5 Mar 9:39PM
  11. Comment hidden due to it's low rating. Show

    cmon walcott come to liverpool , did anyone know that­ hes a liverpool fan??? hed be a great fit for us he can­ play on the wings

    From Alex Z, on Thu 5 Mar 9:30PM

  12. iam very happy for them to return come on arsenal­ please beat burnley

    From luulibrahim, on Thu 5 Mar 9:17PM

  13. Very good. Another reason why we dont need Salamon­ Kalou. Need a true forward now and a holding­ midfielder. Ashavin can't do it for us.

    From bass_alick, on Thu 5 Mar 9:10PM

  14. Also to No. 42 - Walcott didn't just dislocate his­ shoulder, he had to have an operation to repair a­ condition he's had since childhood that made him­ prone to shoulder dislocations. That's why­ it's taken so much longer for him to recover. ­ It's good to have him back!

    From Anne, on Thu 5 Mar 9:05PM

  15. SWEET

    From tom h, on Thu 5 Mar 9:02PM

  16. I hope their returns will bring good luck for the­ Gunners.Up Arsenal

    From darolyn c, on Thu 5 Mar 8:41PM

  17. to No.42... he probably delays so that they are fully­ fit and recovered so they dont pick up a secondary­ injury next game.... wenger knows... =)
    gooner4life

    From ask me, on Thu 5 Mar 8:38PM

  18. Arsenal is a very special football club isn't­ it?even Man u fan admitted it but why can spur do the­ same...

    From two2tango, on Thu 5 Mar 8:14PM

  19. Good news for the guunnnneeeerrrrrrrssssssssss, I­ wonder what rosicky is still doing, why can't he­ get well soon so that denison and song will lean from­ him, Guunnneeerrrsss for life

    From ancolink1, on Thu 5 Mar 7:41PM

  20. Why has it taken so long for theo to return... My mate­ does kickboxing and he dislocated his right shoulder ­ in november in a car crash, he was back FIGHTING mid­ January. Arsene sometimes delays their comeback...­ WHY....

    From Andy, on Thu 5 Mar 7:09PM
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