Arsene Wenger has had more than his fair share of injuries to contend with this season. On top of Robin Van Persie’s up to a possible five-month absence from last November’s Holland v Italy friendly, Eduardo, Nicklas Bendtner, Cesc Fabregas Theo Walcott, Denilson, Abou Diaby and now Aaron Ramsey have been among those key players Wenger has had to do without. And if you throw the African Cup of Nations into the mix, when the Gunners’ midfield enforcer Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue were absent for a month, the fact that Arsenal are still in with a good chance of another Premiership title is all the more remarkable.

 

 

Galvanised
At varying times, the Gunners have had to claw back an 11 point and then 9 point gap, and Wenger knows, that having done the hard work, his players must now finish strong. Consecutive victories over Liverpool, Sunderland and Stoke have galvanised the Gunners to within three points of the Premiership summit, and Wenger will be praying that his players return from international duties fit and raring to go for Saturday’s home clash against Burnley.

Deja Vu
Leading the Premiership two years ago, and with the finishing line in sight, Arsenal let a two goal lead slip at Birmingham, and were visibly traumatised after Eduardo’s horrific career threatening tackle. The players never recovered after that awful afternoon in the Midlands, and after Ramsey was felled in similar fashion at Stoke on Saturday, there seemed a strange air of déjà vu.

Spoke volumes
Two years on from Eduardo’s tackle however and this Arsenal side stepped up and would just not give in. The way in which Fabregas ran the show at the Britannia Stadium, to cross for Bendtner’s leveller, net the penalty for 2-1 and then square for Thomas Vermaelen for 3-1 spoke volumes of a captain who has seen his side come under some rather nasty stuff at the hands of opposing sides.The hurt from Ramsey's injury is set to galvanise a Gunners' title charge and the rest of the Premiership had better be ready for it.

Wearing thin
After any controversial injury, all players will trot out the standard “ I’ve never gone out to purposely injure a fellow professional player,” line, as did Ryan Shawcross after breaking Ramsey's leg. But those words are now wearing very thin. Just ask Wenger ,who acknowledges that  opposition teams are going out to hurt his players, as they cannot stop them by fair means. That is a huge worry and one which the Arsenal players will be aware of.

Winners
The Premier League, the FA and referees in particular also need to be aware of this. All Wenger wants is a level playing field where football can be the winner. If that is allowed to take place, then without doubt, there is be no better football than that produced by the Gunners, and that may yet prove to be this season’s ultimate winner.

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