Walcott injury blow for Gunners

LONDON.
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott will miss Sunday’s League Cup soccer final against Birmingham after sustaining a sprained ankle in his side’s 1-0 win against Stoke at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
Captain Cesc Fabregas is also a doubt for the Wembley fixture after suffering a hamstring strain earlier in the same match.
Walcott looked to fall awkwardly under a challenge from Dean Whitehead and was carried off on a stretcher.
The fact the injury was sustained against Stoke, whose defender Ryan Shawcross broke young Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey’s leg on their last visit to the Emirates, was not lost on manager Arsene Wenger.
“We cannot tell how long Theo will be out for but he is definitely out for Sunday,” Wenger said.
“Theo is disappointed of course. But tonight was the kind of night where nobody else played.
“But we have to face it and we did the job in a very professional way against a Stoke team that defended very well and were very compact.
“We do not know how bad Fabregas’ injury is. It is of course a concern that he is injured, but it is not his fault, it is not my fault, it is part of sport,” Wenger added.
Arsenal captain Fabregas has insisted that he will do everything he can to lead his team out in the Carling Cup final on Sunday.
The Spaniard limped out of his team’s 1-0 win over Stoke on Wednesday night with barely 15 minutes on the clock, and was joined by team-mate Walcott on the sidelines in the second half after he sprained his ankle under Dean Whitehead’s challenge.
Walcott is definitely out of the season’s first showpiece match at Wembley, where the Gunners will take on Birmingham.
It is Arsenal’s best chance to take home some silverware since winning their last trophy – the FA Cup – back in 2005. – AFP.