Afternoon,

its all a bit quiet today, we have some preliminary team news ahead of the game against Hull on Saturday; Cesc Fabregas needs a miracle to be fit for the game, and there are doubts over Thomas Rosicky and Bakary Sagna.

The fact that Cesc isn’t fit is a big big hit, we are going to have to break Hull down and can’t afford to drop points, there is going to be a lot of spirit needed to overcome them as they are going to be fighting for their lives with the threat of relegation hanging over them. I also can’t think of many more horrible thoughts than that big orange banjo-string’s face lit up by his stupidly white teeth having just stunted our attempt on the title.

Speaking to ATVO, the boss didn’t seem as pessimistic about his chances as the national press have indicated, saying:

“It is a little bit more than 50 against now, that means he will be very short for Saturday. We will assess him today. He is starting to run now but we think it would a gamble to play him on Saturday.

“Apart from him, we have an uncertainty with Sagna on his ankle. We also have a problem with Sol Campbell and how he will recover. He finished the Porto game with cramp. They are ‘doubts’ not ‘big doubts’. But we have to refresh the squad a little so we will see.”

It would be really handy to have Thomas Rosicky fit, especially with Alex Song dropping out the squad because of his suspension, it means we are seriously lightweight in midfield and puts extra strain on the newly returning Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin because there are less options for the wide positions as Nasri will play in the Cesc role and Rosicky will probably not be risked with his injury record. He was returning to his best, Thomas, its a shame.

There is a positive, we have no fixture congestion to speak of so its unlikely Cesc will miss a big block of games and I’d put money on him being fit by next weekend. You have to worry about the World Cup though, he isn’t going to get any real rest – especially if Spain go as far as expected.

In defence Sol Campbell has recovered from the game well and is tipped to play in his second game in a week, we could really use his experience and leadership in this run in, especially without our captain because he is as good as one, despite the armband being with Almunia. After the Porto game the boss said some very wise words, ‘you can only judge how a team copes without its best player over a few games, one game does not give a fair reflection’ – very true, and everyone is going to have to be a captain out there at the KC Stadium on Saturday afternoon, there is no room for passengers because believe you me, it will be a tough, tough game.

We will be denied the irony of our captain scoring against the very manager and assistant that made those false claims of him spitting at them, it would have been a fairy tail if Cesc had single handedly put Hull to the sword with his sixth goal of the game coming after dribbling (quite literally) round every single Hull player before rounding the keeper twice and kneeling down to knock the ball in with his head. Always next time I suppose, Cesc’s not going anywhere.

There’s some stories doing the rounds about Roma jetting in for talks with the out of contract William Gallas, trying to sign him up for next season. Roma, like us, seem reluctant to pay the 80,000 a week Billy G is demanding. At his age I think that sum is quite ridiculous but I suppose him being out of contract enables him to dictate his terms. The Daily Mail suggest that Roma’s talks with Gallas are stalling so they are setting their sights on Emmanuel Eboue – no chance. The guy is Arsenal through and through and after a season like he has had and coming back from the criticism he got last year its impossible to see him moving on anywhere.

This season is certainly hotting up, and with the line between success and failure as fine a line as ever there is more pressure on every game than the previous. It’s the boss’s most important end of season run-in in his career, and probably all the players’ too, its been five years since the final of 2005 – and since the Boss now considers that trophy to be somewhat of a disposable one, you could argue its been six years since we have won a trophy of note. A long time in football.

The pressure is mounting, and so is the excitement.

More tomorrow.