Arsenal have suffered another injury blow, as Arsene Wenger has revealed Laurent Koscielny will be out injured for at least another month.
The Arsenal defender pulled out of the France squad last week when he complained about an achilles pain. It is that problem which now looks to be ruling him out for the long term. Wenger said he expects him to be back in a month, but admitted it could be more.
Wenger said in his pre-match press conference: “I cannot give you any date because we go day-by-day with him at the moment. I hope that after the next international break he will be available again. Before that I don’t think so.”
It’s a worrying quote from Wenger, and it’s another first team regular who has been ruled out injured. He will definitely miss games against Sunderland, Burnley, Anderlecht and Swansea. Arsenal should be able to win these games without him, whether they will or not is another matter.
See Arsenal’s full injury list here
The Gunners now only have Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs as available defenders for at least another month. Beyond that Arsenal will have to rely upon youth defenders like Semi Ajayi and Isaac Hayden who are both naturally centre back. Francis Coquelin is also capable of filling in at full back. It’s fair to say Arsenal’s lack of depth in defence has been well and truly exploited.