There is, as has come to be the fashion, very little by way of Arsenal news since our draw at the weekend.  Sp*rs and Chelsea both picking up wins yesterday means that it is now imperative that we win both our remaining games, do that and we simply can’t be caught.  While we can hope that Roy Hodgson being linked heavily with the England job has the same effect on them as it did on Sp*rs we can’t be hoping for favours from elsewhere.  Win both our games and we take third place by at least a point.

That point, the one we picked up at the weekend, could yet prove to be vital.  Talking about its importance, Sagna has said “They are a very physical team. The play a lot with free-kicks and they attack with the ball, but we managed to come back. It was very important because it’s never easy to get some points here but today it might be a very important point.

Speaking to Arsenal.com about Robin’s importance, Yossi, everyone’s favourite Israeli, said “I have been lucky enough to play with some of the best strikers in the world. Robin is one of the best in the world. It was the same when Fernando was on fire and scoring lots of goals at Liverpool. They are on the same level as two of the best strikers in the world. Every game at Liverpool we knew he could score, especially with a player like Steven Gerrard behind him giving him the ball.  We know we must give Robin the ball in the right place and he will score. That is what we did against Stoke and he has been doing that all season.” While the manager has also been reiterating his captain’s importance to the side saying “He has to push us over the line. There are two games to go. We have been a bit over-reliant on him, I concede that. But it is difficult to change that before the end of the season.”

I think it’s safe to say the Robin is running on empty at this point, but with two games left and no striking options on the bench that the manager seems to have faith in and midfielders dropping like Diaby’s, we need him to push through and find a little bit extra from somewhere.

Speaking of Diaby…Many people were concerned when they saw him pull up at the end of our game at the Britannia and it seems that he has indeed suffered a sprain – his thigh this time.  The injury could see him miss the rest of the season and I guess we are ‘lucky’ that it happened right at the end of the match as we had no subs left.  I feel so, so sorry for Diaby, he simply cannot get any time on the pitch at all before breaking down and you do have to seriously ask the question if he is ever going to make it back.  Online yesterday people were questioning the sense in us signing him to a new deal in 2010 but that had come on the back of him having played 40 or so games that year. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  I know many people think we should sell him, but for a start, who would buy him? Secondly, I’m not quite there yet, but the time could be fast approaching.  Let’s see if we can get him ready for the start of next year and if not, we might have to cut our losses as sad as that would make me.

The only other ‘news’ around at the minute is transfer rumour and speculation and there’ll be enough time for that over the summer.

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