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Gunners rocked by Hleb surgery

14/10/2005

Arsenal's injury woes have continued today with the news that Belarusian midfielder Aleksander Hleb needs surgery on his knee.

The former Stuttgart player suffered the injury while away with his country and will now be out for as long as two months.

It comes as yet another withering blow to manager Arsene Wenger, who will now be without six first-choice players for the trip to West Bromwich Albion tomorrow.

Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Robin van Persie and Gilberto Silva are also unavailable and Wenger has admitted that he does not remember ever having injuries like it before.

And although Wenger refused to refer to his current plight as a "crisis" he did admit that losing so many players while they were on international duty has caused him major difficulties.

"We have lost many players over the break when we should have come back refreshed," the Frenchman said.

"For some it is a question of days, and others, like Ashley Cole and Hleb, it is a matter of six to eight weeks."

Cole and Campbell both picked up their respective shin and hamstring injuries while with the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Poland, while Henry is still out with the groin strain he suffered while with France during last month's international break.

Brazil international Gilberto is set to miss the game because of the lateness of his return to Britain after playing for his country during the week.

The absences mean that Wenger will have to dramatically reshuffle his side for the trip to the Hawthorns and youngsters Gael Clichy and Philippe Senderos are set to fill in for Cole and Campbell in defence.

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