Wenger waits for verdicts on Campbell and Vieira

Gordon Tynan
Tuesday 25 March 2003 01:00 GMT
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Arsenal received two blows yesterday with the news that Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira could both miss tonight's FA Cup quarter-final replay against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The England centre-back and the France midfielder, who have been battling against Achilles and knee injuries respectively, played the full 90 minutes of Sunday's Premiership win against Everton but suffered reactions after the game and will be assessed this morning. The Gunners' goalkeeper, David Seaman, is still out with the torn hamstring which has kept him out of England's forthcoming games with Liechtenstein and Turkey. For Chelsea, the former Arsenal midfielder Emanuel Petit will return after a calf injury.

Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, said his team would "give everything" tonight. "It's a Cup game and everybody in my team wants to win this FA Cup tie," he said. "If you look at our record in the FA Cup since I came here, we've been in the final three times and the semi-final once. That means the FA Cup is important to us."

The Chelsea manager, Claudio Ranieri, suggested that the club's centre-back, John Terry, could become England's defensive linchpin for the next decade after his first selection for the national squad, whose preparations for the Euro 2004 qualifiers he will join after tonight's game.

"He is another extra-terrestrial, he comes from Mars," said Ranieri. "He's 22 and he could be an England centre-back for a minimum of 10 years. He could be there for a long time. His body and strength remind me of Tony Adams. He reads the game very well and feels tall and strong, and can mark any striker, even Thierry Henry."

Arsenal (from): Taylor, Lauren, Campbell, Cygan, Van Bronckhorst, Touré, Parlour, Gilberto Silva, Vieira, Pires, Edu, Ljungberg, Bergkamp, Henry, Wiltord, Jeffers, Kanu, Luzhny, Stepanovs, Warmuz.

Chelsea (from): Cudicini, Melchiot, Terry, Gallas, Le Saux, Stanic, Lampard, Morris, Zola, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Zenden, Petit, De Lucas, Cole, De Goey.

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