Injury Update

Arsenal midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Samir Nasri both face three weeks on the sidelines after picking up injuries during training last week.

Welshman Ramsey suffered a thigh injury during Friday's session while Nasri picked up a hamstring strain.

I guess Cesc is going to have to play each and every game now. I thought maybe he'd be rested for the Bolton "rematch" but now it seems that Arsenal can't afford that.


I was thinking of trying to grab Cesc at his new and inexplicably lower price of 17.51. However, upcoming fixtures @Aston Villa, Manchester United, @Chelsea and Liverpool have me thinking that I've just missed the boat for this week and that it's not a good idea to pile in on the barn door.

Meanwhile, across London...

Fulham's American winger Clint Dempsey has suffered suspected cruciate knee ligament damage, which could jeopardise his place at the 2010 World Cup.

The 26-year-old United States international was injured in the second half of Fulham's 2-0 loss to Blackburn and went to hospital for a scan.

"The initial prognosis for Clint is not good," said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson.

"It looks like he has suffered cruciate knee ligament damage, which if he has, keeps him out of action for a while."

And in Africa...

Chelsea have confirmed that Ghana midfielder Michael Essien is out of the African Nations Cup with a knee injury.

The Premier League side are expecting the player to return to their Cobham training ground later this week where the club's own medical staff will assess the state of his injury.

Ghana's team doctor has already claimed Essien, 27, will be out of action for at least a month after suffering the injury in training.

And in Manchester...

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini expects Roque Santa Cruz to be sidelined for a month with his latest calf injury.

The Paraguayan lasted just four minutes of his comeback at Everton on Saturday before going down with the same problem that caused him to miss three games over the Christmas period.