Nasri hamstrung for Barcelona test

Samir Nasri will miss the first leg of Arsenal FC's UEFA Champions League round of 16 encounter with FC Barcelona after suffering a hamstring injury on Sunday, according to the Gunners' manager Arsène Wenger.

The French international midfielder pulled up during his side's 2-1 FA Cup fourth round victory against Huddersfield Town FC and Wenger confirmed on Tuesday night that he will be out for three weeks.

"For Nasri, the scan shows a hamstring strain," said Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger. "[He will be out for] 21 days."

The news is a significant setback for the Londoners, who face Liga champions Barcelona at home on 16 February, but Wenger, who first described his reaction to the injury after the Huddersfield match as "a big, big blow", will be hopeful of the 23-year-old recovering in time for the return leg on 8 March.

Nasri has been one of Arsenal's star performers this season, scoring two of his 14 goals in all competitions in the UEFA Champions League group stage. "I have regrets now, because the plan was first to play [Tomáš] Rosický [against Huddersfield] but he was still too weak because he was sick," Wenger had admitted at the weekend. "So I took the gamble on Nasri and it backfired."

There are also concerns surrounding the fitness of Alexandre Song and Theo Walcott who sustained respective knee and ankle injuries against Everton FC on Tuesday. "Song cannot walk," said Wenger during Tuesday's post-match press conference. "I don't know what he has got. He was kicked, I think it was by [Laurent] Koscielny; he knocks out everybody in our team. So we have to see how he responds to that in the next days, but he cannot walk at the moment."