Van Persie ruled out for a month

LONDON, England -- Arsenal striker Robin van Persie dealt the Premier League leaders a bitter blow on Thursday when he was ruled out for at least a month after suffering a knee injury during Euro 2008 qualifying action with the Netherlands.

Van Persie limped out of Wednesday's 2-0 Euro 2008 qualifying victory over Slovenia and is likely to miss the Champions League ties with Slavia Prague as well as Premier League games at Liverpool and at home to Manchester United.

"It looks like a knee injury," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online. "We will know later today how bad it is but the early signs are that he will not be able to perform for us in the next four weeks.

"It is a big blow. Robin is a striker, a supportive striker and important on set-pieces as well. I hope he will be back soon and we'll do the maximum to get him back."

Wenger will also be without Philippe Senderos for two weeks after the Swiss defender hurt his back on midweek international duty.

It is the absence of in-form van Persie -- he had scored five goals in his last four matches -- that is the major blow for the Gunners.

But captain William Gallas, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and Tomas Rosicky should all be available for Saturday's home game against Bolton following their recent injury problems.

Struggling north London rivals Tottenham also had some worrying news when keeper Paul Robinson was ruled out of Monday's league clash at Newcastle on Monday after suffering a calf strain in Russia.

"Paul was assessed this afternoon and it showed that he had picked up a calf strain while on England duty that will prevent him playing for us on Monday," said manager Martin Jol.

The 28-year-old has displayed indifferent form for club and country this season and was criticized for his role in Russia's winner in Moscow. E-mail to a friend