Arsene Wenger Seeks Solace After Arsenal's Injury Woes
Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla became the two latest names to be added to a lengthy injury list for Arsenal and will be missing when the rejuvenated Sunderland visit the Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger will attempt to get Arsenal's English Premier League title challenge back on track against Sunderland on Saturday after enduring another week of criticism about the club's injury record. (Alexis Sanchez Injured in Arsenal Draw, Liverpool Climb)
Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla became the two latest names to be added to a lengthy injury list and will be missing when the rejuvenated Black Cats visit the Emirates Stadium. (Arsene Wenger Has 'no regrets' as Alexis Sanchez Gamble Backfires)
The pair were injured in last weekend's draw at Norwich City, a result that prevented Wenger's side moving level on points with the top two Manchester City and Leicester City.
Sanchez's injury drew particular attention with the Gunners manager having admitted the forward had felt his hamstring in the week preceding the trip to Carrow Road and Wenger has yet to discover how long the Chile international will be out for.
The length of Cazorla's absence after suffering a knee injury at Norwich is similarly unknown and with French midfielder Francis Coquelin having only recently been ruled out for three months with a knee problem, Wenger admits it has been a testing month.
"Yes (I'm glad November is over) because in the last couple of weeks we lost Francis, Alexis and Santi - basically three players in two games," he said.
"That is of course too much, but hopefully we now have Theo (Walcott) not too far away, and (Laurent) Koscielny coming back too."
Wenger, though, hopes adversity will bring the best out of his players.
"I believe first of all it's always a disappointment to lose the players at an important moment of the season," he said.
"But on the other hand, it's a great challenge to take for the team and a great opportunity to show that we are ready for a fight and we can deal with it.
"We prepared ourselves to go through periods like that and I'm convinced the players are ready. We have gone through a little bit of a bad spell in recent games, but we are two points off the top.
"The great opportunity for us is that, despite that bad spell, we are very close.
"That's why it's important that we keep our confidence high and our determination high, and start winning again."