Wenger Confirms Francis Coquelin Will Be Out For Two Months

Another game and another couple of players were taken off due to injury while not many would fret about Mikel Arteta getting injured, the sight of Francis Coquelin hobbling off will worry most Arsenal fans.

Having lost three of their opening four Group F matches, qualification for the latter stages of the Champions League is now out of Arsenal’s own hands.

“Here it’s different again, there’s different strengths to this team, it’s just about working out a system and a shape and putting things together that get you results”.

Zagreb’s victory over Arsenal in the first round of matches was shrouded in controversy with Ademi’s failed drugs test. Wenger then repeated his calls for stronger anti-doping measures from football’s authorities.

“We will give absolutely everything to stay in the Champions League”, Wenger said.

COMMENT By Greg StobartEven some of Arsene Wenger’s most loyal staff members are known to have warned the Arsenal manager over the summer about the risk he was taking in not signing a defensive midfielder. “I think at 1-0 up we became a little too easy and the equaliser they scored sums it up well, they didn’t even need to have the ball”.

While Wenger is optimistic about Arsenal’s chances, he acknowledges the north Londoners have only themselves to blame for their precarious predicament.

“For my part, I would not explain our defeat by that”.

“It is a least two months but I’m cautious as we had so many bad surprises on scans that I do not want to speculate more than that”.

Wenger had indicated before Saturday’s visit to Albion that he expected Ramsey to have recovered by Tuesday from the hamstring trouble that has kept him out of action for the last month, but in the wake of the loss here he said: “It looks hard to have players to come back for Tuesday”.

“Let’s just try to win our last two games”.

Coquelin will be joined on the sideline by Mikel Arteta, who also left Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion early with an injury of his own.

The visitors dominated possession in the first half, but were unable to create any clear opportunities until taking the lead on 28 minutes, when Olivier Giroud headed past Boaz Myhill from a well-struck Mesut Ozil free kick.