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Arsenal star confirms he’ll miss Sunderland due to on-going injury

By on May 16, 2017

Laurent-Koscielny arsenal

Laurent Koscielny has confirmed he’ll miss tonight’s clash with Sunderland due to an on-going Achilles injury that he’s got to manage for the rest of his career.

Koscielny has been plagued by Achilles issues for over two years after initially being diagnosed with chronic tendinitis in both feet by the French national team doctors during the international break in October 2014.

The 31-year-old missed eight games at the time and has been forced to manage the issue ever since. Luckily it’s not stopped Kos playing regularly as he’s played at least 38 games a season for the last two campaigns but the Achilles have still flared up from time-to-time.

The latest occasion came last month when the French centre-back was forced off at half-time against Man City and was forced to miss our following two games.

Kos felt the problem against Stoke at the weekend with pain shooting up his calf so the defender has now confirmed he won’t be risked against Sunderland tonight as he looks to get himself fit for the last league games against Everton and next weekend’s FA Cup final.

Unfortunately, Koscielny is going to have to carefully manage the Achilles problem and it will require daily treatment for the rest of his career. Kos is quoted as saying by the Evening Standard:

“I have some problems. Now it is better. I know it is a difficult injury because you need to work every day on this. Every morning I have my treatment for my Achilles and I know I need to do this to the end of my career.

“Now, every day I do this and it is OK but sometimes with all the games we play every three days, it is difficult and I need to have a rest to recover well for my Achilles. That’s why last time I was injured but now it is OK with this.

“It is not difficult but you need to be careful with this because if you stop doing your own exercise programme for one or two weeks, the problem will come back. I know now I need to do this every day to be fit for my team.

“I am prepared to miss Sunderland to be fit for the last two games of this season. Sometimes it is better to miss one game to be fit for the others.”

In Koscielny’s absence, Wenger may recall Gabriel to the defence against the Black Cats tonight or Nacho Monreal may be moved into the back three with Kieran Gibbs coming back in on the left.