He was injured when he fell awkwardly during the Blackburn match on Wednesday, having collided with Matt Jansen, the scorer of both Rovers goals. At first he was thought to have nothign more than bad bruising, but an x-ray has revealed a hairline fracture of the fibula.

He could be out for up to 6 weeks which is a huge shame as he and Sol Campbell's partnership had settled down quite nicely. But Tony Adams is hopefully near to his return, and in the meantime Matthew Upson will have a chance to stake his claim to keeping the skipper on the bench.

Keown will miss England's friendly against Holland, and possibly the whole of the remainder of the second stage of the champions league.

Rupe adds...
TeamTalk report that the break may not be so bad after all and he could only be out for 3 weeks. That'd only make it an extra couple of games on top of the ones he's banned from anyway. The quote Wenger as saying, "It's not as serious an injury as we first thought. It just stops him from being able to play." Elsewhere though, such as The Telegraph, he's quoted as saying "Martin will be out for three to six weeks, but closer to six than to three. It's not threatening his campaign with England or Arsenal, but let's say he'll come back in mid-March."