I mentioned yesterday that Diaby was not training for France due to “muscular discomfort.” Wenger has confirmed this but suggested that Abou should be fit for Saturday’s match against Southampton.

Diaby was omitted from the French team for their second World Cup qualifier, which they won 3-1 against Belarus. Rumours started circulating that our star man from the Liverpool game was “once again” injured and he was almost blamed for his poor fitness record.

However, Wenger said the following on TF1:

“He has a little pain in the hip, sartorius [muscle]. It does not seem serious at all. He even has a small chance to play Saturday.”

We hope that he will be fit for the weekend, but it might not be such a bad thing if he is unavailable. On the one hand, he’s a very good player who had an excellent performance a few weeks ago and is regularly described as the most talented player in our squad. On the other hand, it may be good to use our other midfielders (i.e. Ramsey, Coquelin) so that they are match-fit and aren’t grumbling on the sidelines. We will need these players throughout the season so they need to be fully motivated. Coquelin has actually indicated he may leave the club if he continues to be a bit-part player  - that is something that worries me greatly given that he’s obviously a very good player.

We will keep you updated with team news for the Southampton game when we get it.