Some say 4 minutes, some say 7. Whatever, it's not good.

Cole fractured his right foot in October, then hurt a thigh muscle when forced off the bench earlier than planned against Boro (how Wenger must be regretting putting Ash on that bench - if ever there was a game that Mathieu Flamini or Sebastian Larsson could cope with, that was it). Last night he was challenged early on by Andy Barcham, and had to limp off with what we're told is a sprained ankle. A club spokesman was quick to stress that it's not a recurrence of the old injury (it's the left ankle), but while it's good if it's not a fracture, it's extremely worrying that he's found yet another new injury to pick up. Worrying for Arsenal, for Ashley, and for England's World Cup chances.

Sprains can take varying amounts of time to sort themselves out, for a start, but more significantly this is the third injury in five months, and the second time in a few weeks that Cole's comeback has been stopped in its tracks. After the Boro affair Wenger was keen to stress that Cole would not be rushed back and I guess that's good - who knows what kind of problem he'd have picked up if he had been.

After Cole went off, Sean Kelly moved from centre back to left back and Fabrice Muamba dropped back from central midfield to fill in. The loss of Alexandre Song's partner in the middle weakened our midfield considerably. Barcham went on to score the opener a few minutes later, Dawkins added a second 10 minutes later, and Arturo Lupoli grabbed one back for Arsenal midway through the second half. Tottenham had included some first teamers such as Gardner, Davenport and Bunjevcevic. See reports on arsenal.com and a Suprs site.

In an interview on the official site, Cole has been talking about how his injury has given a chance to Arsenal youngsters, in the same way as he himself got his big break when Silvinho was on the sidelines for a while. "Luckily I got my break and now players like Kerrea and Djourou have got theirs," he says. I know he's been off the scene for a while but he really ought to know that Kerrea Gilbert plays at right back and Johan Djourou at centre back. Their chances have come from injuries to Lauren and Sol Campbell, and the absence in Africa of Emmanuel Eboue and Kolo Toure. Of course, one takes his point. But while they've earned a hell of a lot of brownie points for effort and versatility, none of the players who have deputised on the left of defence of late are going to be able to use it as their big chance to establish themselves in Cole's place. But yes, we would have had the same situation repeated, if only Gael Clichy hadn't got himself a long-term injury too.

Clichy too has been hit by a setback, after appearing to be closest to a return. less than a fortnight ago he was back in training and considered most likely to be back before Cole. He was due to play in another friendly, against Reading on the 16th but broke down preparing for it that afternoon. The latest news is that he is now back to being weeks away from first team action. Wenger responded to suggestions that Gael wouldn't play again this season by saying, "It looks like it will be three to four weeks at the moment. It is exaggerated to say he won't play again this season but certainly not before April."

Neither will Sol be back in time for the second leg against Real Madrid next week. His "genuine calf injury" has now been trumped by a bruised foot (also genuine, we presume). Wenger says, "He has not played and he has not been in full training yet. He is only with the fitness coaches at the moment, so he needs at least a week with the team."

We can do without Sol, in the form he's been in for most of the last year or 2 I'm sure most Arsenal fans would prefer to see Senderos and Djourou continue to progress alongside Kolo. But the left back situation remains dire. The fact that that flank is ripe for the picking might have escaped the Galacticos, but earthbound teams such as Bolton and Blackburn and, dare I say it, Fulham aren't going to let us off so easy.