Injury Update 16/11/09

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,16989_5697361,00.html

The headline injury news from the international weekend is that Arsenal have a huge striker problem to contend with after Robin Van Persie was ruled out for at least a month - and most likely far longer than that - after rupturing ankle ligaments. With Theo Walcott a near-permament crock this year, Carlos Vela back on the sidelines, and Nicklas Bendtner undergoing a groin operation last week, it leaves Arsenal with just Eduardo to lead their attack. And how likely is it that he will manage to last even a few games before breaking down again?

But it's not just Arsenal who are fretting over the fitness of their star striker.

The Suns says that Chelsea, already rocked by the loss of Frank Lampard and the withdrawal of John Terry from England's friendly with Brazil, could be without Didier Drogba for three weeks with a broken rib.

'A scan carried out by the club showed Drogba suffered only bruising after clashing with United defender Jonny Evans. But SunSport can reveal a further X-ray done by Ivory Coast doctors confirmed the worst,' the newspaper reported at the weekend.

Quite how Evans escaped scrutiny over his challenge is, however, something no scan will be able to reveal.

In any case, the likelihood is that Chelsea will resume the league season next weekend without Drogba, Lampard, both of their first-choice full-backs, and possibly Terry as well. So it's probably just as well that their opponents next Saturday as one of the league's lesser lights in Wolves.

Now this sounds nasty. According to Germany coach Jogi Luuuuuurve, Chelsea's Teuton-in-chief Michael Ballack has a problem with his knee, and will therefore miss their game with Ivory Coast on Wednesday.

Luuuuuuurve said: "He has an infection in the back of the knee and there has been a reaction. After consultation with the doctors - I also spoke to Michael Ballack - I have decided that he will not play.

"He needs two or three days of rest. It makes no sense to take risks, also in terms of Chelsea as they have quite a few games leading up to Christmas and afterwards."

The weekend did, however, bring some good news on the injury front because..
Tottenham have scotched talk that Carlo Cudicini would never play football again following his road accident by predicting that the Italian will make a full comeback.

"Both specialists are extremely pleased with the result and expect a good recovery," Wayne Diesel, head of Spurs' medical services, told the club's official website. "Carlo is in a lot less discomfort and is in good spirits." Cudicini arrived at White Hart Lane in January following a decade at Chelsea and has made eight appearances to date.

Another man who might be slightly happier this morn is Alex Ferguson, assuming that the fitness of Dimitar Berbatov is something that makes him happy.

The Bulgarian star of the Godfather Part III has missed United's last two games with knee issues, but he now claims he has recovered fully and will play for his country this week.

"I received a kick in my knee during the Blackburn match and I needed some rest and some treatment, but I'm okay now and I'll play in Malta," Berbatov told the Bulgarian press, which obviously we're keen followers of.

The Bulgaria squad sounds like a dangerous place at the moment. Martin Petrov looks like he'll face a spell out after twanging his knee while on international duty.

He'll therefore miss the next couple of weeks for Manchester City, but given that he hasn't been in the team much lately, that won't be a crushing blow.

Back to Blighty now, and Steve Bruce is not the happiest of bunnies. Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon had his arm broken by an errant Jermain Defoe kick, and it looks like it will be next year before he's back.

Bruce said: "Craig's injury is the most disappointing thing to come out of the last couple of weeks.

"It looks as if it's going to be three months. We've not had much luck in that respect - that's two serious injuries in a month."

Cheers,
AM