Arsenal captain William Gallas admits the table-toppers
will miss Kolo Toure while he plays in the African Cup of
Nations.
The defender is set to miss the Gunners' next few games as he plays
for the Ivory Coast in the tournament in Ghana.
If his team do well, Toure could be away well into February and
Gallas admits the Gunners will miss the Ivorian, although whoever
replaces him in the team will also be good.
Gallas told his club's official website: "Kolo is very important
for the squad because he is very strong. He has good qualities and
my relationship with him has been good.
Miss
"We have good players in the squad and someone else will be able to
play. If you play for Arsenal you are very good and I hope my
relationship with them will be good too. We will miss Kolo but I
can only say how much after a few weeks."
With the title-race now hotting-up, Gallas believes the team's
ten-point haul over the festive period shows Arsenal's desire to
become champions.
He said: "We played very well and it was just about what we had to
do. We have got two days off so we can relax now.
"It is good that we are top. It was important for us to show
everybody that we wanted to be there. For me it is not finished and
we have to stay strong to stay on top.
