Vermaelen's comeback delayed

Wolves v Arsenal:THOMAS VERMAELEN appears to be no closer to a return to fitness for Arsenal, after suffering a setback in training on Monday in his fight to recover from the Achilles problem that has kept him out of action for the past two months.

The central defender picked up the injury in September on international duty with Belgium, after playing in Arsenal’s opening three Premier League matches of the season. To his frustration and that of Arsene Wenger, his rehabilitation has been painfully slow, with the club’s medical staff unable to diagnose the cause of the discomfort.

Vermaelen’s latest problem, ahead of tonight’s visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers, has deepened his manager’s irritation.

“We don’t have good news about Thomas Vermaelen,” Wenger said. “He had a little setback in training and he has to see specialists again. I can’t give you any time scale at all. On the scan, his Achilles is completely clear but as soon as he stays out for a while it tightens up and he has pain. We don’t know the source.”

The update was similarly gloomy on the midfielder Abou Diaby, who has seen two surgeons about the piece of loose bone in his ankle. He has not played since the middle of last month.

“Diaby is the same (as Vermaelen),” Wenger said. “He has a test Wednesday or Thursday. If he gets through that it will be very quick but if he still has pain, he will have to see a specialist.”

Wenger will be without a second centre half for the fixture at Molineux. Laurent Koscielny was sent off against Newcastle and he learned yesterday he had lost his appeal against the dismissal. Koscielny will be banned for two matches. There was some comfort for Wenger from the treatment room in that Samir Nasri has recovered from the calf problem that forced him off against Newcastle and Robin van Persie came through a substitute’s appearance, his first real test since he damaged ankle ligaments at Blackburn Rovers on August 28th.

Guardian Service