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Leaders Arsenal hit by injury crisis

  • Story Highlights
  • Premier League leaders Arsenal hit by injuries ahead of Blackburn match
  • Manager Arsene Wenger says up to 10 players could be ruled out of action
  • Wenger may push Kolo Toure back into action after the Africa Cup of Nations
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LONDON, England -- Premier League leaders Arsenal are facing an injury crisis ahead of Monday's home match against Blackburn Rovers.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is worried about the lack of availability of his leading stars.

Manager Arsene Wenger said he could be without 10 first team stars and may have to rely on pitching Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue straight back into the fray after playing for Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Ivory Coast play hosts Ghana in the third and fourth place playoff in Accra on Saturday and Wenger is investigating the possibilities of flying them back immediately.

Tomas Rosicky, Robin van Persie and Johan Djourou are already sidelined but during Wednesday's internationals Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos aggravated a knee ligament problem and Mathieu Flamini suffered a hamstring injury playing for France.

To add to Wenger's woes, Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, already a doubt with a finger injury, has gone down with an illness that forced Wenger to send him home from training on Friday.

Abou Diaby is also likely to miss the Emirates Stadium clash with a calf injury sustained against Manchester City last weekend.

"It is a big problem. At the moment we are down to the bare bones. We are really, really short," Wenger said.

If Senderos is unavailable, William Gallas will be the only central defener available to Wenger unless Toure can get back in time.

Wenger could be forced to play Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva or young right-back Justin Hoye alongside Gallas at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal head champions Manchester United by two points going into the latest round of fixtures with United playing Manchester City in on Sunday with the chance to reclaim the leadership. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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