Jack Wilshere suffers a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury. Alan Pardew admits he is unsure whether Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse will play at Blackburn next midweek, Frank Lampard is out of Chelsea’s FA Cup game with QPR and Chris Samba takes Blackburn’s owners to task as he looks for a way out of Ewood Park:
Arsene Wenger confirmed earlier this afternoon that Jack Wilshere has suffered a setback in training. The midfielder has yet to play for Arsenal this season but had been on course to return from an ankle injury next month. While The Guardian claimed earlier today that Wilshere could be at risk for the season, Wenger refused to scaremonger, saying only:
Wilshere had a little setback. We don’t know how bad it is. I can’t give you any news on Jack because I could be wrong.
The Gunners boss also revealed that Bacary Sagna may return after long-term absence this weekend, with Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry also standing a good chance of making the Villa game.
Andre Villas-Boas admitted Chelsea will be without Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel for their FA Cup game with QPR. Lampard has failed to recover from a calf injury picked up against Norwich last weekend, though the Blues boss is hopeful he will be ready for the midweek trip to Swansea.
Alan Pardew’s Thursday press conference centred mainly on Senegal’s exit in the African Cup of Nations. With Newcastle front pair Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse both flying home on Monday after their country’s final group game against Libya on Sunday night, there’s a possibility one or both could be ready to face Blackburn on Wednesday evening. Fantasy managers have already been drafting in the strike duo since Senegal’s omission. Over 8,000 have transferred in Ba, the fourth highest Fantasy Premier League (FPL) player to date this season, while new signing Cisse, who was priced at 7.0 by FPL yesterday, has attracted just over 200 in comparison. Though Pardew admitted he was delighted to have them back, he was cagey over their prospects of appearing at Ewood Park:
It’s not as simple as them playing at Blackburn. We have to contact Senegal and they might want the squad to fly back together or whatever. I really don’t know what the chances are, I really could not put a percentage on it. But the plus side is they are coming back to Newcastle early and they will definitely be involved against Aston Villa. Cissé has literally only had eight hours here. He has to get used to that number nine shirt.
Sir Alex Ferguson remained vague over Man United’s injury situation this morning. Speaking ahead of the weekend FA Cup trip to Liverpool, Ferguson revealed no specifics, much to the frustration on Fantasy owners of Nani and Phil Jones- both have been reported as being possible absentees for the next few weeks. The United boss failed to elaborate on reports that Wayne Rooney hasn’t trained all week and would only say:
I can’t give you much of an update on injuries. Hopefully we’ll have two or three training this morning and we’ll be better by tomorrow. It is not the best situation for us.
Chris Samba has hit out at Blackburn’s owners Venkys as he tries to engineer a move away from Ewood Park. The Rovers skipper has already seen a transfer request turned down this month and with four more days left before the January window closes, a furious Samba has lashed out at those in charge, as he continues to look for a way out:
Blackburn need players who are 100% for the club — and I’m not. The only way to solve this is for them to let me go. It will be very difficult for me to play for this team again. I’m at the end of the road here. I’m not going to change so, for their good and mine, they must sell me now. I’ve got nothing against the manager. It’s not like he’s been given £100million to spend, he’s trying to do the best he can with what he has. This is between me and the owners. It’s personal.
Marc Tierney is available for Norwich’s FA Cup trip to West Brom. The left-back has missed his side’s last five league games due to a groin injury but looks set to return to the first-team for the Hawthorns showdown this weekend, according to Paul Lambert. Tierney had previously started every one of the Canaries’ first eighteen gameweeks.
Nicklas Bendtner is expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks with facial injuries. The Sunderland forward was taken off early in last Saturday’s game against Swansea after receiving an accidental kick to the face by Angel Rangel and with Martin O’Neill admitting the Dane’s injuries are worse than initially anticipated, it affords the like of Connor Wickham, Ji Dong-won and fit-again Fraizer Campbell a first-team opportunity up front for the Black Cats:
He’s got a bit more than a broken nose. It’s difficult to put a timescale on it, but it’s going to be lengthy. We thought at one stage he might be okay. The early signs, even on Sunday morning, were that it looked as if it might be okay. But he’s going to be out for a number of weeks now, which is definitely a blow to us. He has a few cracks and we just have to bide our time with that. That’s a big blow to us and to the lad himself, who was beginning to enjoy a decent spell of football for us.
Steve Sidwell has recovered from a knock that forced him off in Fulham’s 5-2 win over Newcastle last weekend and is available for the FA Cup game with Everton. Moussa Dembele misses out after failing to recover from a hip injury, while the club’s official website has revealed both Orlando Sa and Mark Schwarzer are “a week or so” away from returning to action. Schwarzer’s return will, of course, be of particular significance- the Australian has failed to feature since the end of gameweek 15 but is expected to reclaim his spot between the sticks from David Stockdale as soon as he is fit.
David Moyes is set to be without the majority of his injured players for the Cottagers clash. First-choice centre-halves Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka are still sidelined, meaning Shane Duffy is likely to continue alongside Johnny Heitinga in the heart of the back-four. Leon Osman, Seamus Coleman and Jack Rodwell are all still out, while Ross Barkley continued his comeback from a knee problem with a midweek run-out for the Toffees youth team. One piece of good news for Moyes is the return of Tony Hibbert at right-back.
