Wenger 'took a gamble' on Vieira - Will he play on Sunday?

Last updated : 10 December 2002 By Chris Parry
ITV's team seemed to have extracted a quote from a member of the Arsenal staff which implied that tonight's 'injury' was nothing more than a dead leg - who are we to believe?

Wenger said: "Patrick was insistent on playing and felt good. Medically, he got the green light and I decided to give him a test on the pitch. I took the gamble to take him off if he didn't feel good in the warm-up but he felt good so that's all you can want.

"It's strange that he injured his leg on the other side but in exactly the same place and in the same muscle. Maybe he was over-protecting his leg. I took the same gamble in Rome though with Oleg Luzhny and it worked. You have to accept it when you take these kind of decisions.

"Of course, after the game, it does not look the best of decisions but you know that, psychologically, Patrick has an influence on the team. For the other players to feel him there at the start of the game is important."

Wenger added: "It was difficult to predict how long he will be out for. There is not yet any clear answer from the doctors, although it looks like he will certainly be out this weekend. That's certainly not ideal but we have a few days now to reflect on it and for him to recover. Maybe we will have a positive surprise."