Gibbs injury tempers Arsenal joy

Arsenal FC defender Kieran Gibbs could be sidelined for three months after breaking a bone in his foot during Tuesday's 2-0 home victory against R. Standard de Liège in the UEFA Champions League.

Broken metatarsal
The 20-year-old, who was standing in for injured left-back Gaël Clichy, played the full 90 minutes of the Group H encounter which guaranteed Arsenal would go through as group winners. But an Arsenal spokesman later confirmed that Gibbs had broken the first metatarsal in his left foot.

Operation
"We have x-ray facilities here in the stadium," the spokesman said, adding that Gibbs would have an operation on the break on Wednesday morning and would be sidelined for about three months. Gibbs had only just returned for the Premier League title-chasers after suffering an injury to his right foot with England's Under-21s which had ruled him out of Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Sunderland AFC.