Both players last featured in an Arsenal match on February 1st, when West Ham beat us 3-2 at Highbury. Sol was responsible for both of the Irons' first half goals, and left the ground at half time after being subbed: an understandable reaction which attracted a ridiculous amount of press coverage. He was given a few days off, then picked up a calf injury in training. Van Persie has been out with a broken toe.

It could yet be a while before we see either of them play for the first team. Wenger says, "Sol has returned to full training, he still needs one or two games to play and then he will be available. Robin van Persie is very close to coming back". Very close, perhaps, but it's possible that Wenger will be very cautious. We've had some problems this year caused by bringing injured players back too quickly, most notably Ashley Cole.

When Sol does return, many Arsenal fans will be hoping that he gets no further than the bench. Kolo Toure and Philippe Senderos have formed a great partnership again, the latter seemingly having returned from the African Cup of Nations an even better player (and with good understanding with his Ivory Coast compatriot Emmanuel Eboue) and the former having rediscovered top form in the last few games after a slightly unsteady spell earlier in the season. Senderos's international team-mate Johan Djourou has done enough to deserve another shot too, but Campbell will surely relegate him to 4th choice. The question is: will he relegate Big Phil to 3rd?

Van Persie, on the other hand, we could really do with. He's the only player this season who's looked anywhere near as likely to score as Thierry Henry. He's got a creditable 10 goals from 17 starts and 9 sub appearances.

Freddie Ljungberg, who was forced off early in the win over Liverpool on Sunday with a recurrence of his calf injury, is due for tests today. Pascal Cygan could be available again soon. There's no further news on any of our injury victims (as described on the official site). The official site should have a report on today's practice game later on today.