By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger has been forced to make numerous changes in his squad for the FA Cup Fifth Round replay at Blackburn on Wednesday night.
The Arsenal manager could be without as many as 10 first-team players and, as a result, may take some of his ‘Carling Cup youngsters’ to Ewood Park.
“There are plenty of changes but it will still be a strong team,” the Frenchman told Arsenal.com on Tuesday.
“We have lots of injuries. We don’t have Adebayor (suspended), Thierry Henry (foot) and Tomas Rosicky (groin). At Cardiff on Sunday we also lost Abou Diaby through an ankle injury and Kolo Toure who was sent off. Fabregas will be rested as well.”
The injuries don’t end there. Justin Hoyte is troubled by a hamstring strain picked up at the Millennium Stadium, Johan Djourou is struggling with an ankle complaint while Mathieu Flamini is doubtful with a foot problem.
Robin van Persie will definitely miss the game of course. His prognosis is still anything between four and eight weeks because of the broken metatarsal he suffered against Manchester United on January 21.
Fortunately Wenger has some experienced players in need of games.
“William Gallas is coming back,” he said, “so are Hleb and Ljungberg. They will be involved. Denilson will be there aswell. Clichy (foot) is in the squad but I am not sure he will play.”
Arsenal TV Online subscribers will be able to see a video interview with Arsène Wenger on Wednesday morning. In it the Frenchman talks about: his reflections on the Carling Cup Final on Sunday, the disciplinary issues that have arisen from the game, his faith in his youngsters, the danger of David Bentley, the emergence of Shabani Nonda and much more.
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