Published: 4 October, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger is doing his best to turn a negative into a positive by insisting Abou Diaby’s latest injury represents an opportunity for another player to stake their claim.

The France midfielder lasted just 17 minutes against Chelsea on Saturday before sustaining a thigh strain that is expected to rule him out of action for at least three weeks.

Wenger said he was disappointed to lose the player yet again to injury, but believed he had the necessary cover.
“It is an opportunity for somebody else to stand up and play, but it is a blow,” he said.

“Not only because we lost a good player but because he has qualities that the other players haven’t got. We have better balance size-wise and in terms of strength when he is in the team because he has power.

“But we also have Ramsey, Coquelin, Chamberlain and Wilshere, it depends on if you want to be more offensive. Arteta can play higher and deeper, so we can put a deeper midfielder in like Coquelin and then Arteta can move forward.”

Wenger has also criticised the French FA for picking Diaby for September’s World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Belarus.

“I think it was a mistake to play him with the national team. They could have taken him but not played him because the guy has been out for a year, and then played four or five games. You need a breather, give him two weeks to recover completely.”