Robin van Persie appears to be a major doubt for Arsenal’s Champions League game at Barcelona next week after suffering a knee injury in the Carling Cup final.
Van Persie, who was injured in the process of scoring an equaliser for Arsenal in their 2-1 defeat at Wembley, underwent a scan on Monday and Arsenal are yet to receive the results, but widespread reports claim the Gunners are now pessimistic over his chances.
The Daily Mirror says Van Persie is thought to have “no chance” of appearing at the Camp Nou, with his knee “understood to be badly swollen”. The Guardian and Daily Mail, although not as conclusive as the Mirror, both rate the striker as a major doubt.
The news, if confirmed, would represent a major blow to Arsene Wenger, who is without long-term absentees Thomas Vermaelen and Lukasz Fabianski and has said Theo Walcott has little prospect of appearing in the game.
Meanwhile, Johan Djourou has said he believes the club have the “resources” to challenge in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League following the Carling Cup setback.
“We have to bounce back,” he told the club’s official website. “We just could not get that second goal to win us the Carling Cup, but we have other things coming up. We are still in the FA Cup, there is still the League and the Champions League, so we need to bounce back.
“Things like that [mistake] happen in football. It is just a shame it happened so near the end. But also mistakes make you stronger.
“We are aiming to get back to Wembley in the FA Cup and also the Champions League. We have to bounce back and go for glory. The club needs to show character now and we have the resources to do it.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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