Fabregas will be out of action for 4 months with knee injury

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-24  |     ONLINE EDITION

ARSENAL'S last hopes of hauling itself back into contention for the Premier League title seemed to disappear yesterday when captain Cesc Fabregas was ruled out for as long as four months because of medial ligament damage to his right knee.

Manager Arsene Wenger said that the Spain midfielder had a partially ruptured ligament and will be on the sidelines for at least three months.

"The news is not good," Wenger said. "He will be working hard to come back earlier but I count four months."

That will rule him out of Arsenal's Champions League matches against AS Roma on Feb. 24 and March 11, and further hit his team's attempts to close an eight-point gap on leader Liverpool.

"We will miss him, of course, but how much is difficult to say," Wenger said. "We have to find a way and we want to find a way to compensate the fact that he is not on the pitch to give everyone a bit more."

But Arsenal was struggling badly this season even with Fabregas in the side, losing five of 18 games _ two more than in the whole of the last campaign.

While last month's losses at Stoke and Manchester City were followed respectively by wins over Manchester United and Chelsea, the Gunners have been inconsistent throughout and appear to be missing Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb, who left during the offseason.

And injuries to key players have not helped attempts to win a first trophy for four years.

Tomas Rosicky has not played for a year because of a hamstring injury, Theo Walcott is out with a dislocated shoulder, and Eduardo da Silva has only just returned to the reserve team after 10 months out with a broken ankle.

With Fabregas only captain after William Gallas was stripped of the honor for publicly criticizing his teammates' attitude, goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is likely to fill in as the Gunners' on-field leader.

Wenger may now consider signing new players during the January transfer window to fill the gap left in Arsenal's midfield.

"It is more likely but we also have internal solutions and we are not desperate," Wenger said.

Fabregas hobbled out of Sunday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Liverpool, which left Arsenal eight points off the lead and in fifth place, following a tackle by Xabi Alonso at the end of the first half.

Wenger said the tackle was fair and he did not blame Alonso.