Podolski and Walcott out for injury-ravaged Arsenal

Dec 6, 2012 7:30:00 PM

The Gunners are desperate for a win after suffering two defeats within the space of a week but several first-team players will miss the game with West Brom on Saturday

Arsene Wenger has revealed that Arsenal will be without several key players, including Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski, for Saturday's match against West Brom, as they seek to bounce back from two successive defeats.

The Gunners suffered a demoralising 2-0 reversal at home to Swansea City last Saturday and followed it up with a 2-1 defeat away to Olympiakos in their midweek Champions League fixture.

A bout of injuries mean that Wenger's side will now have to make do without a number of first-team regulars against the high-flying Baggies at the Emirates Stadium.

"Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott are out," the Arsenal boss announced. "Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny are not back.

"From Tuesday night in Greece there are no new injuries so we have a selection from the combined squad of Tuesday and Saturday."

	BAD TO WORSE?
18/1	Arsenal are 18/1 with PaddyPower to lose 2-1 to West Brom

Podolski missed out on Tuesday's trip to Athens thanks to a calf injury but Wenger does not expect the Germany international to be out for too long.

"It is a hamstring," he explained. "It should be short-term."

The 63-year-old is also expecting Andre Santos to return to action in the near future, with the Brazilian not having featured since November's win over Tottenham in the north London derby.

"He will not be ready for Saturday but he is not far away with an abdominal injury," Wenger concluded.

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