Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger fears that Santi Cazorla could be ruled out until March with knee ligament damage.
The midfielder suffered the problem during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Norwich and, according to the French manager, finished the second half ‘on one leg’.
An early diagnosis suggested that the Spaniard would miss just three months of action during a rehabilitation period but the severity of the injury means that he might not be able to feature for the Gunners for up to 16 weeks.
Cazorla is set to see a specialist in order to discover thee extent of his injury and his extended absence will add to the north Londoners’ growing injury list.
Wenger has a lack of midfield options and offered an update on the fitness of several of his players ahead of this weekend’s clash against Sunderland.
“[Theo] Walcott might be back and [Laurent] Koscielny could play.