Thigh blow sidelines Clichy
27 Nov 2007 - 08:56:10
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has named a much-changed 18-man squad for the Champions League trip to Sevilla and confirmed that Gael Clichy will miss the game with a thigh injury.
The French left-back picked up the problem during Saturday's 2-0 win against Wigan Athletic, but should return to action for this weekend's game at Aston Villa.
Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas have remained at home as Wenger opts to rest several of his first-team regulars.
The Gunners have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition, with Wenger confirming to the club's official website: "We leave out William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor while Gael Clichy is injured.
"I would have taken Clichy but he has a thigh problem. However he should recover for the weekend.
"Mathieu Flamini will travel. I wanted to start him but we do not have good indications from training. Nicklas Bendtner will start - I want to give him a chance."
Meanwhile, Wenger is confident his side can enjoy a long run in this season's Champions League, adding: "I have always been a great believer in this group, even when everybody said that I was crazy.
"I believe in the players I have and I am very pleased with their attitude.
"We are one of the teams who can win it. But there are between six and ten teams in Europe who can win it, because this is a cup competition - and you need to go into the knockout stages in good shape."