Rio Ferdinand will miss Manchester United's trip to Chelsea on Sunday but Darren Fletcher will be available despite admitting that he will require an operation to cure a long-lasting ankle problem.
While The Sun says that Ferdinand will be out of action for six weeks due to his bad back, the impression made by The Times is that it is even more serious than that.
'Ferdinand will miss United's Barclays Premier League top-of-the- table match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and could face weeks on the sidelines - and possibly surgery - after finally deciding to address an injury that has plagued him since last December and contributed to his poor form this season,' it reports.
'The Times revealed in September how, despite claims to the contrary, Ferdinand's back complaint had not gone away and was becoming a serious cause for concern for United - and England before the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer - with specialists struggling to determine the exact nature of the problem,' it reports.
As for Fletcher, United fans should not be losing much sleep just yet. The Scot's admission that he is struggling with the injury concluded with the assurance: "It should be OK to the end of the season. That is the plan, to get me through to the summer and do something then."
Meanwhile, in case you missed it on Wednesday, Sir Alex has told MUTV: "Hopefully Vidic, Giggs and Berbatov will be ready for Sunday. Gary is suspended so John O'Shea will be ready to play."
Almost-no news is good news for Chelsea with the club not reporting any problems after their game in Madrid.
The only update has been provided by Jose Bosingwa with the right-back waiting on results of tests on his knee. The former Porto man insists there is no guarantee he will require an operation to put things right, but he accepts that he must follow whatever advice he is given. "It's all up to the doctors, but I'll accept the best solution," Bosingwa said in the Daily Express.
From the sounds of it, Aaron Lennon will still be absent when Tottenham face Sunderland this weekend.
"We just don't know how long it will be before Aaron is back," said Harry Redknapp. "We will have to wait and see how he gets on this week."
However the good news for Spurs is that Jonathan Woodgate is "back in contention" - which is just as well given that Sebastien Bassong pulled a hamstring in last week's North London derby - while Luca Modric has finally returned to light training. But he'll still be short of fitness for the Sunderland game.
In a piece of news nobody was expected, Arsene Wenger has reported to Arsenal's official website that none of his players were injured this midweek.
Seriously, read it for yourselves:
'The Arsenal manager lost no-one from Wednesday's win over AZ Alkmaar'
And although nobody on their current injury list will return for the trip to Wolves, the club have also reported that Armand Traore (now back up to Kieran Gibbs at left back with Gael Clichy out for two months) and Carlos Vela 'are close to comebacks' while Denilson will return to training in the second week of the international break with Theo Walcott joining in one week later.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is poised to gain one striker but lose another this weekend.
Emmanuel Adebayor is set to return to the side for Saturday's Premier League clash at home to Burnley after missing the goalless draw at Birmingham four days ago with an ankle injury.
Club skipper Kolo Toure also seems set to face the Clarets after he joined Adebayor on the sidelines last weekend with a heel problem.
However, Roque Santa Cruz is likely to miss the match at Eastlands after sustaining an ankle injury at St Andrew's which forced him off midway through the second half.
Hughes said: "Roque hasn't trained since the weekend. He got a really bad bang on his ankle. He's got a lot of blood in and around the area that needs to come out. We need to shift that and we're hopeful he will be able to train tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see.
"Ade and Kolo have trained for the last couple of days. They've had a couple of sessions and there was no reaction today from the work yesterday. The feeling is they will be okay for the weekend."
Left-back Wayne Bridge has joined Santa Cruz in the treatment room with a slight strain above the knee.
"Wayne hasn't trained either since the weekend," Hughes said. "We're hoping he will train tomorrow, but again we'll see how he is. We're hopeful he'll be okay."
Robinho, meanwhile, is now doing "field-based work" as he closes in on a return to action after more than two months out with a stress fracture of the ankle.
Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo is facing several weeks out of action after damaging the metatarsal he fractured during the pre-season summer trip to Australia.
The Scotland international started his first Barclays Premier League game against Stoke last weekend and impressed during the 2-2 draw.
But Iwelumo suffered the setback after Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and Wolves central defender Christophe Berra landed on his foot.
Your Comments
aizice
"Song has been nothing more than absolute brilliant. Barnstorming in his defensive duties. He is the man who gets the tam ticking and he has to be the most under-rated player in the Arsenal ranks. Arsenal missed the sort of aggression that he brought about this season. Song gives Arsenal the balance that they sorely lacked last season. He relieved the burden of nullyfying threats posed by the opponents from the shoulders of his fellow combatants and steadily and realiably stepped up to the plate to his team's rescue. For all of Arsenal's swashbuckling trade of football, for all the Brazilian-esque flair, for all the panache, the creativity that they boast, Song was the only man who could provide them with the trait that they very much needed. Song's meteoric rise in form and influence has been nothing short of remarkable and he has turned out to be the midfiled lynchpin they had been scouring for since the departure of Flamini.He allows Fabreags, Arshavin and the likes to play their natural game due to his impeccable reading of the game and his distribution would make even his captain proud. I cannot rave enough about Song and if is avoids injury and he replicates his early season form into the latter stages of this campaign, Arsenal will no doubt bag some silverwares this season. Diaby, nevertheless, always had potential. And his close control and footwork was never in question. His decision making, however, has been patchy in the past and woeful at worst. ANd when he does settle in, theres always the nagging injuries hampering his progress. This season, however, he has avoided any major setbacks on the sidelines and his navigation and maturity has peaked. Coupled that with Arsene Wenger's tactical masterstroke of a 4-3-3 and that explains their fantastic displays this campaign. "
midnightsurge
"passittotheleft, last season called, it wants its opinions back.
Pleb."
foxy
"was going to slate passittotheleft for his stupidity but ive been beaten to it!song has been one of the players of the season for arsenal and diaby has come along leaps and bounds in recent games"
KBizzle
"Who cares about Robinho? Petrov is much better. why can nobody see that?!"
bobbyp
"Agree Gooner420 Song has been excellent. We will miss him when the AVN is on. Personally I've always thought he was pretty decent, but he's surpassed himself this season. "
homegrovejlo
"passittotheleft - are you joking? SOng has been incredible this season. His last ditch tackle on keane was first class and he is the best holding midfielder in the country at present. Go and watch some highlights or do something productive instead of wanting a marquee signing. I deeply worried about what is going to happen when song goes off in january"
chezsu
"Congratulations passittotheleft, you win the award for most stupid comment to come from somebody that obviously hasn't been watching Arsenal the last few months."
Gooner420
"passittotheleft - Don't watch much football, do you? Song has been one of our best performers this season!"
passittotheleft
"I seriously hope that Denilson is out for the season, because we're terrible with Song or Denilson, let alone both of them on the pitch at the same time! Too weak! Although saying that, we could do with replacing Diaby, as all he does is attack! Really poor at coming back to defend. "
indian_gooner
"It not for the first time that Arsene has come out and said that he has lost no-one.....Its the most refreshing piece of news that you will hear as an Arsenal fan"
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