Arsene Wenger was left to count the cost of Arsenal’s 4-0 FA Cup win over Hull City tonight as Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista and Aaron Ramsey all left the field injured at the KC Stadium.
The Gunners manager addressed his trio of enforced substitutions after the game. He did not seem too worried by his defensive casualties, but intimated that Ramsey faces time out with a muscle problem.
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This latest spout of injuries comes at a terrible time for Wenger, who has recently lost Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny to knocks. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere are among his long-term absentees.
His side host Watford in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, and then travel to Barcelona to try to overcome a daunting two-goal deficit in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.
Arsenal’s increasingly-crocked squad also have an eight-point gap to surprise leaders Leicester City to make up in the Premier League title race, after three top-flight matches without victory.
Ramsey is potentially Wenger’s biggest loss of this trio, having started 25 of Arsenal’s 29 league games this season, but Koscielny’s unavailability means that he is already light at the back.
Thankfully Wenger still has plenty of attacking resources to choose from, and two goals apiece from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott saw Hull brushed aside in tonight’s fifth-round replay.
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