Thursday Sep 29 2005 15:36
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that Gilberto Silva's back injury is likely to keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the campaign.
The Brazilian midfielder has been out of action since mid-September because of a fractured vertebra and tests on the injury this week showed little sign of improvement.
Wenger said: "It's not good news on Gilberto. We had a check on his back and it looked like the bone has not grown and the distance of the fracture is still exactly the same.
"We have decided to rest him for six more weeks and have sent him back to Brazil on holiday.
"He has to rest completely, and when he comes back it is not sure he will be capable of playing."
Asked if the injury was career-threatening, the Frenchman replied: "We don't think it is, but it is season-threatening.
"If in the next six weeks, the bone has not completely grown together, we have to give him three months more."
The setback has come at a bad time for the Gunners as fellow central midfielders Edu and Mathieu Flamini are currently sidelined with toe and knee injuries respectively.
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