Almunia injury puts Fabianski in goal

Posted Monday, September 27, 2010 by Arsenal.com

Almunia injury puts Fabianski in goal
Lukasz Fabianski... will start against Partizan Belgrade on Tuesday

Lukasz Fabianski will be in goal for Arsenal at Partizan Belgrade on Tuesday night.

The Polish keeper is taking the gloves because Manuel Almunia picked up an elbow injury during the penalty incident against West Brom on Saturday.

Arsène Wenger relayed the news before training on Monday morning. During that session he will decide if Kieran Gibbs can board the plane for Serbia. The left back is still recovering from the badly bruised foot he suffered at Tottenham last Tuesday.

“We have Manual Almunia out,” said the manager. “He has a problem with his elbow. He caught it when he made the penalty on Saturday.

“Also Kieran Gibbs has a test in training today.”

Almunia came under scrutiny after the 3-2 defeat at Emirates Stadium over the weekend but Wenger made it clear that, but for this injury, he was not going to leave out his No 1.

“No,” the Frenchman responded. “[The keeper] is always the easy target, the easy scapegoat. But we win together and we lose together even if people think he made a mistake on the second goal.”