FEARS that Arsenal might end the season without a trophy escalated last night when Arsène Wenger, the manager, admitted that Thierry Henry, his leading goalscorer, now has a less than even chance of playing in the FA Cup Final. Compounding the worries, Fredrik Ljungberg, the Sweden midfield player, is doubtful, too.

Henry, scorer of 30 goals this season, has missed Arsenal’s past three matches because of a groin injury. Neither he nor Ljungberg, who has a hip problem, will play against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Monday night and could miss the Cup Final against Manchester United in Cardiff on May 21.

“At the moment, I would say there is more chance that Thierry will not appear in the Final than appear,” Wenger said. “Both players are working very hard on their fitness but are coming along slowly. It is difficult to make any prediction about when they will be back.”

Although Arsenal have as good as conceded the League championship to Chelsea, they still need to secure second place to guarantee an automatic place in the Champions League next season. “We have to finish as strongly as we can,” Gilberto Silva, the Brazil midfield player, said. “We must concentrate to the end. It is important for us as a team and the supporters, and that means taking second place and winning the Cup.

“The final will be great. We are two big clubs with some excellent players and I’m sure that both teams will want to play football. The fans are set for a real treat.”

Gilberto has missed a large part of the campaign because of a back injury that could have brought a premature halt to his career. He has played five matches since recovering from a fractured vertebra, which kept him out for six months, and made his comeback in the 4-1 home victory against Norwich City this month.

“It was good to have my first game at Highbury after such a long time out,” he said. “I was always optimistic about my recovery. I went back to Brazil for a bit and forgot about football. It is frustrating to sit on the sidelines and watch your colleagues playing when you are not.”

If Gilberto needed a test of his fitness, he got it in the robust encounter with a physical Blackburn Rovers side in their Cup semi-final in Cardiff, which Arsenal won 3-0. “It was a very hard match but I’m glad that I proved to myself that I am 100 per cent again,” he said.

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