Robin van Persie is still "two or three weeks" from
full fitness.
The striker last played for Arsenal on October 7 when he struck
twice in the 3-2 win over Sunderland at Emirates Stadium. He
injured his knee in the international break that followed and has
been out of action ever since.
Arsène Wenger was hopeful the 24-year-old would be back for
last weekend's game with Wigan. That estimation has had to be
re-assessed. Now he is set to return just before the Christmas rush
of games.
"Van Persie is out," said Wenger ahead of Saturday's
game at Aston Villa. "It will be two or three more
weeks."
The manager said the problem was bigger than first thought, adding: "There is still pain. He is not close, he has no chance at all for next week."
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 30 Nov 2007