Fabregas, Hleb, Rosicky, and Toure to miss Slavia Prague Clash

Kolo Toure and a trio of Arsenal's midfielders did not travel to the Czech Republic for Wednesday's match against Slavia Prague.

Arsene Wenger explained to Arsenal.com that Cesc Fabregas and Alex Hleb were being rested while Kolo Toure and Tomas Rosicky were recovering from minor injuries picked up in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Saturday.

"I wanted to take Tomas Rosicky, but he has a slight problem with his groin," said Wenger.

"Kolo Toure got a kick on his calf [against Manchester United on Saturday]. He will be OK for Reading on Monday. Rosicky, we don’t know yet.

"Alex Hleb and Cesc Fabregas are rested."

The Toure injury (thankfully) sounds very minor, and comes at a time when we are not facing any really tough fixtures, so I'm not too worried there. Rosicky though has been struggling for fitness this season, and I would be disappointed to see him losing his place to Emmanuel Eboue permanently as the Czech Republic captain is a valuable player.

However, we are unlikely to need either player to defeat Reading on Monday, and our next fixture is Wigan on November 24th, so we should be able to cope without the pair.

Alex Hleb and Cesc Fabregas have arguably been Arsenal's two best players this season so the team will miss them, but with the Champions League knockout round almost a sure bet, the two midfielders won't be too necessary against Slavia.

In fact, it should mean that Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott get some playing time, which will benefit the youngsters greatly. I applaud Wenger's decision to keep the two in London for some well-deserved rest.

Adebayor to stay at Arsenal during ACN

The 2008 African Cup of Nations will last from January 20 until February 10, calling up African players from all over the Premiership. Arsenal looked set to lose Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, and Emmanuel Adebayor for that period of time, and there were some concerns that we would be light both up front and in central defense.

However, the effects of the ACN have been dampened by the fact that Togo has failed to qualify. This means that prolific Arsenal striker Adebayor will be staying with his club. It comes as a blow to Togo (and to Adebayor who I'm sure was looking forward to representing his country in the ACN) but Togo's pain is Arsenal's pleasure, and Adebayor staying is a major lift.

We will still struggle in the center of defense without Kolo Toure, though. The Ivorian defender has been incredibly solid at center back, whether partnered with Philippe Senderos or William Gallas. Even with the return of Johann Djourou, Arsenal will be in some serious trouble if Gallas gets injured (as he has managed to do quite often since his transfer from Chelsea) so I hope that the Micah Richards rumors are true.

We will be playing Newcastle, Manchester City, and Blackburn while the African Cup of Nations is going on, and if we can weather the storm, we have a great chance of winning the title.