Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner a major fitness doubt for Birmingham match
Nicklas Bendtner is a major doubt for Arsenal’s crucial Premier League fixture at Birmingham on Saturday and is also facing a race against time to be fully fit for the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona.
Bendtner suffered a twisted ankle injury during the 2-0 win over West Ham United and, although it looked fairly innocuous at the time, he is yet to return to training despite intensive daily treatment.
He still hopes to rejoin training on Thursday and place himself in contention for the Birmingham match, but has conceded that he may well struggle to recover that quickly.
Arsene Wenger is already without William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen – both of his first choice centre-backs – for a trip to St Andrew's, which is clearly among the most dangerous remaining fixtures in the run-in to the season.
The loss of Bendtner, who scored a Champions League hat-trick against Porto and is begin to thrive as the club’s main central striker, would represent a major blow. If Bendtner does not make the trip to Birmingham, there is confidence that the injury is short-term and he will be recovered in time to face the European champions at the Emirates next Wednesday.
“At half-time [against West Ham] I said to Arsene Wenger that I probably couldn’t play the whole game,” said Bendtner. “I hope to resume training on Thursday or Friday – that would put me in the frame for Birmingham but I’m not confident I will progress so rapidly.”
Andrei Arshavin would be the obvious option to deputise as the main central striker in Wenger’s 4-2-3-1 system, although he is clearly happier with Bendtner in the team. “He creates more space for the players behind him, and that offers us more time and possibilities to do something special,” said Arshavin.
“It helps me personally of course. He’s good in the air – he wins a lot of balls that way and through this we can gain even more possession.”
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