Arsene Wenger plays down Robin van Persie blow

Arsene Wenger is confident that Arsenal will cope with the enforced absence of Robin van Persie and has spoken of his "relief" that the striker was not sidelined for considerably longer than six weeks.

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Robin van Persie takes a lesson from Arsene Wenger

Van Persie partially ruptured an ankle ligament during a friendly against Italy on Saturday and initial reports suggested he could be absent for up to three months, and potentially the remainder of the Premier League campaign.

Such a scenario would have cast real doubt on Arsenal's hopes for the season but the club have since learned that Van Persie will miss between four to six weeks, a prognosis that Wenger believes the club can cope with adequately.

The Frenchman was also pleased to hear that left-back Kieran Gibbs only suffered bruising and not a fractured metatarsal when limping off during the Under-21 game between England and Lithuania on Tuesday night.

"We knew that when Robin came out with this injury, that he would be out for a long time," Wenger told the club's official website. "But frankly I feared it would be more because the first news was very, very bad. So it was a relief that he would be out for six weeks.

"Of course it is a disappointment and something we did not want but I feel we have enough strength to compensate for his absence for a while. It will also allow him to be fresh for when he comes back.

"[As for Kieran], our medical staff called me saying he was in hospital in Lithuania with a suspected broken metatarsal. Later on it was much better news. He will still be out for Sunderland but maybe we could have him back for Standard Liege on Tuesday."