Cesc Fabregas will miss the remainder of the season after cracking his right fibula in last night’s encounter with Barcelona. Arsenal have confirmed that their skipper will be sidelined for six weeks, putting him out of their title tilt.

This will now a flood of sales of the Spaniard by Fantasy Managers, many of whom will also be facing the search for a replacement for Wayne Rooney. As reported earlier, the extent of his injury is set to be revealed in tomorrow morning’s press conference.

Frank Lampard will surely be the key target for those seeking a Fabregas replacement, although teammate Florent Malouda will also get deserved attention. The Gunners own Samir Nasri is another name that will be bandied about – he is likely to take up the role of playmaker for Wenger’s side and will gain spot-kick duties, although his place against Wolves with Tuesday’s tie in Barcelona looming, is not assured…

Further short-term options lower down in the price bracket include Stoke’s Matt Etherington and the Fulham pairing of Zoltan Gera and Clint Dempsey. Fulham are in Europa League action tonight so their chances of starting agianst Wigan this weekend will greatly depend on Roy Hodgson’s teamsheet in that one. Both Stoke and Fulham have double fixtures in gameweek 34.

Everton’s midfield – Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta (still an injury doubt for the weekend), will also be considered by many.

As always, our Watchlist in your right-hand menu, gives you my thoughts on the current crop of midfielders.