ARSENAL’S HOPES OF qualifying for this year’s Champion’s League group stage have suffered another setback.

After the loss of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in quick succession, Uefa’s insistence on imposing a fresh two-match touchline suspension on manager Arsène Wenger, and a disappointing start to the club’s Premier League campaign, the Guardian’s David Hyter reports that influential midfielder Jack Wilshere has been ruled out for at least three weeks.

Attributed to the recurrence of a pre-season ankle injury, the midfielder’s absence from tonight’s Champion’s League qualifying encounter with Italian side Udinese leaves the North London outfit looking dangerously short on creativity in the middle of the park.

Making reference to the controversy surrounding his decision to encourage Wilshere to skip last summer’s European U-21 Championships, Wenger implied the source of the injury could be traced to the 19-year-old’s “over-use.”

“Maybe it is a consequence of last season. He was in the red, like I told you which, in fairness, was what nobody wanted to hear. We knew he was in the red in the last two months and we continued to play him because we had no choice. Maybe it is a consequence of the over-use.”

In addition to Wilshere and the high-profile defectors, the Frenchman will also be without Sebastien Squillaci, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Abou Diaby and Niklas Bendtner for tonight’s match in Udine, into which the Premier League side carry a one-goal aggregate lead.

With Uefa not due to hear the manager’s appeal against his touchline ban until Thursday, Wenger has been cleared to sit on the bench during tonight’s game.

For more information read this story in today’s Guardian>

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