Kolo Toure could be given an immediate chance to reclaim
his first team place at Arsenal after Arsene Wenger revealed that
captain William Gallas is a doubt for Saturday’s game against Stoke
City.
Toure found himself in a distinctly unfamiliar position on
Wednesday as the sole survivor of ‘The Invincibles’ side – with
over 200 Premier League appearances under his belt – was dropped to
the substitutes’ bench.
Arsene Wenger even sought to reassure Toure in his programme
notes that the decision should not be interpreted as a snub but the
club’s longest-serving player was forced to watch on from the
sidelines as Gallas and central partner Mikael Silvestre both
scored in a 4-4 draw with Tottenham.
Gallas is expected to miss the trip to Stoke though and Emmanuel
Eboue, who came on as a substitute against Spurs, could also be
missing for the game at the Britannia Stadium.
“It looks like Gallas will be out and maybe Eboue too,” Wenger
told the club’s official website. “We’ll assess him tomorrow.
“It is a little recurrence of the hamstring for William and for
Manu it is his knee.
“He is not running properly at the moment. He still has pain
there.”