No early return for Lauren
25 Oct 2006 - 14:52:11
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger expects to be without right-back Lauren until after Christmas.
A serious knee injury has kept the 29-year-old on the sidelines since January, with his recovery taking longer than expected.
Wenger told the club's official website: "I don't think you will see Lauren in the team before January.
"He played up to the limit of his pain and then maybe he played a little too long. That created some damage in his knee which had to be repaired.
"But he is a tough, tough boy. He works hard and he will come back.
"He is making good progress but he still has four or five weeks before he comes back to normal training and then it will take a month's full training to come back into the team."
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Adebayor will be out for around three weeks after suffering a thigh injury during Tuesday's Carling Cup victory against West Brom.