Tomas Rosicky's hamstring injury will keep him out until March at the earliest.

The Arsenal midfielder has not played since January 26 when he hobbled off after nine minutes of the FA Cup tie with Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium. Rosicky has undergone surgery on his hamstring tendon in Germany and will return to England in ten days to continue his rehabilitation. However, Arsene Wenger, believes it will be some time before the 27-year-old plays again.

"He's doing rehab at the moment,” Wenger said. “He's back here on December 17 and then hopefully we can start to work with him. But it's a long-term prospect - maybe March at the earliest.”

However, there is much better news about Eduardo, who missed a large part of last season as well as the European Championships after the 25-year-old suffered a fractured left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle after a tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor during the 2-2 draw at St Andrews on February 23.

"He will play on December 16 in the reserve team,” Wenger said.