They each played 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Arsenal training ground. Cole has not played since the goalless draw with Ajax on February 26th. He had already been suffering from a hernia, and the plan had been to delay surgery till the end of the season. But on return from theat game it was decided that he should have his operation sooner rather than later.

Oleg's last game was a month before that, against Liverpool. Although he's not a regular like Cole, his absence at a time when the defence has been depleted in the other positions has made the thought of injury or suspension to Lauren rather more scary. Luzhny has been pretty good at right back this season, some even preferring him to Lauren.

The comeback match was an U18 game against a team of youngsters from St Etienne. Ashley and Oleg were the only "over-age" players involved. Arsenal won 3-0. With 2 weeks until Arsenal's massive week: the FA Cup semi-final and the crucial home league game against Man Utd 3 days later, it's quiet possible that Ashley (and Oleg) will be in contention for first team places by then.

Meanwhile Sol Campbell has been ruled out of England's game in Liechtenstein on Saturday. He's been struggling with his achilles recently, a context which makes his recent performances look even more superhuman. So it's good news that he's getting a rest after failing a fitness test at London Colney (the Arsenal training ground has been England's HQ for the last few days). But there are "hopes" that he'll be fit for the visit of Turkey next Wednesday.

Robert Pires looks almost certain to miss France's euro-qualifier against Malta on Saturday. He has an ankle injury picked up in the win over Chelsea on Tuesday. France coach Jacques Santini says that Bobby only has a 10% chance of making the match. But there must be a slightly greater chanc that he'll be fit for their next match on Wednesday, which is against Israel in Italy.