Arsenal’s Arteta ruled out for rest of season

LONDON Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielder Mikel Arteta (pictured right) will play no further part in Arsenal’s season.

Friday, April 20, 2012

LONDON Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielder Mikel Arteta (pictured right) will play no further part in Arsenal’s season.Arteta sustained an ankle injury during Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Wigan, and Wenger said afterwards that he feared the problem was "quite a serious one”.Scans confirmed that there was no break but the midfielder will not be available for the club’s final four games of the season."It is season over for him, but he doesn’t need surgery, which is what we were scared of, so he will be out for six to eight weeks,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. "It is an ankle problem, but just a sprain.”Arsenal are currently third in the table, five points clear of Tottenham and Newcastle, though their Champions League rivals all have a game in hand.They take on Chelsea this weekend and, while the recent defeats to QPR and Wigan have been disappointing, Wenger is delighted that the Gunners are in third place after such a poor start to the season."After losing four games in the first seven, to be where we are today is a remarkable achievement,” he said. "Now our target must be to better what we did last season.