Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner back in contention but injury concerns remain.

Two consecutive defeats before the international break have meant it has been a very sobering time to be an Arsenal fan. The defeat at Chelsea was inevitable but it was the performance against West Brom that is most worrying.

Birmingham are the opposition tomorrow but although they are from the same geographical region as the last visitors to the Grove, they play a totally different ball game. Incredibly West Brom outplayed us three weeks ago, showcasing a compact defensive unit and incisive counter attacks. Birmingham do not have the same fluent philosophy as their neighbours and will provide a more familiar defensive rearguard action tomorrow afternoon. We will rely on the imagination of our midfield crafters to find a chink in the armour of an organised and negative Alex Mcleish side. Fortunately, in Wilshere, Nasri, Rosicky and Arshavin we should have the talent to compensate for the strange absence of our captain.

We were led to believe that Fabregas made a full return to training just two days after missing out on the Chelsea game but he is now 'short'. It has been said a thousand times but either Wenger is far too optimistic or there is something seriously wrong with our physio department. After reaching the magical six weeks out, van Persie is still no closer to a return and Vermaelen's 'minor' achilles problem still keeps him out indefinitely.

We have a fantastic squad, one capable of compensating for the loss of three of four players for short periods of time but we are consistently missing at least five players, usually with long term, mysterious injuries. There is not much point holding out hope for a trophy until this situation is resolved.

We proved last year that a top four place is still well within our grasp however many players may get injured and beating teams like Birmingham at home provides the foundation for that ambition.

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