ARSENE WENGER has confirmed Alexis Sanchez will not be risked in Arsenal's FA Cup third-round clash with Sunderland tomorrow after suffering a setback to his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Sanchez, 27, missed the entire festive fixture list having suffered a the injury in the 1-1 draw at Norwich in November. He was expected to make his comeback for the win over title rivals Manchester City before Christmas but suffered a setback in his recovery.
In his absence, Arsenal have opened up a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League and open the defence of their FA Cup against a struggling Sunderland side who are second from bottom in the table.
"The bad news of the week is that Alexis is not quite ready," said Wenger. "It is a precaution because of his hamstring and it takes a few more days. He's not bad but he's not ready.
"The thinking is to give absolutely everything to qualify. We are the holders of the cup and I know as well by experience that it is very important that you get in the competition and that you have a successful third round. It's a tricky one, always, the third round."
There is better news on Mikel Arteta's recovery from a calf injury, however, while Wenger also offered an update on Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin - all of whom are sidelined with knee issues.
"Tomas Rosicky is not far, he's back in full training next week, so should be available soon. Mikel is available," he added.
"Nothing has changed [from the original timescale] with Santi. It could be a bit shorter with him because he's often quicker [at recovering] than you expect him to be. Cazorla and Coquelin are doing well."
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has different striker problems - but has vowed that Jermain Defoe will only leave this month if the club receives an offer they cannot refuse.
Defoe, 33, demonstrated his career-long ability to find the back of the net with a priceless double in last Saturday's 3-1 Premier league victory over Aston Villa.
And he has been linked with a return to former club Bournemouth, where he enjoyed a successful loan spell during his time at West Ham.
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| Arsene Wenger will not risk Alexis Sanchez for their FA Cup tie with Sunderland |
But Allardyce said: "We haven't had a bid for him, for one and I suppose if I had had a bid for him, I'd have probably turned it down - unless it was that big a bid that the owner had told me, 'This bid is so big, Sam, that we can't afford to turn it down' and every club has that scenario."
Defoe has contributed a relatively modest 10 league goals to date, five of them this season, but produced two trademark finishes last weekend despite playing as a lone striker.
Allardyce said: "There's always been a belief that maybe he can't play up there on his own. He has played up there a couple of times on his own now and I am more than willing to continue down that line.
"Hopefully it would be Jermain who came to me and said, 'Look, it's really not working for me, Gaffer, on my own up there. You have got to stick somebody with me'.
"That would be the only time I would consider not doing it. If he can carry on and be as good as he was last week and certainly be as clinical as he was last week, then long may it last."
Sunderland have, however, completed the signing of Bayern Munich defender Jan Kirchhoff for an undisclosed fee.
The 25-year-old, 6ft 5” centre-back has put pen-to-paper on an 18-month deal which will see him remain at the Stadium of Light until June 2017.
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