CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REACTION:ARSENAL ARE waiting anxiously on the results of a scan to hear how long the hamstring injury picked up by Cesc Fabregas during the 2-0 defeat by Braga will keep him out of the side. Following the match, Arsene Wenger said his captain might be out for about three weeks and he will definitely miss the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday. The club may target the game against Manchester United on December 13th for his return.

Fabregas has been plagued by hamstring problems since the start of last season and recently missed a month of football.

Wenger warned that it had become a mental issue for the Spaniard, and the subsequent injury was to Fabregas’ right hamstring rather than a recurrence of the problem he had been suffering in his left leg, meaning he is now struggling to overcome damage to both.

Glenn Hoddle, the former England head coach and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, said this may have been due to Fabregas subconsciously shielding the original injury. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Champions League coverage, Hoddle said: “Once you have a hamstring (injury) on the left-hand side you can also do your right one. You compensate.

“You think you’re over the injury and sometimes you’re not and you just compensate and can end up getting (a further) injury, whether it be another hamstring or an Achilles’, on the other side of the body. That’s what I’ve experienced over the years.

“He’s going to be in trouble because the difference with hamstrings is that you’ve got to clear it up and this has been going on for too long. How do you clear it up? Time.”

While Emmanuel Eboue also suffered a medial injury that will keep him out for weeks, Fabregas’s absence in central midfield is compounded by concerns regarding the team’s frailties. The defeats by Braga and Spurs in Arsenal’s previous outing were due to goals being conceded through the middle of the defence.

While Wenger’s players queued up to apologise and state that it was unthinkable they would now fail to progress in the Champions League, Johan Djourou did accept that concerns regarding the side’s robustness have become an issue.

“That’s normal, but I think we are big enough to stand up for ourselves and be ready for the next game” he said. “Of course if Arsenal do not go to the knockout stages it’s a disaster and I think that shouldn’t happen. I don’t even think that we’re not going to qualify. We have to think positively. Obviously we’re very disappointed, but the season is still long and we can still qualify even if we would have preferred to be qualified (now).”

Despite the Spurs defeat, Arsenal are two points behind league leaders Chelsea and know victory over Partizan Belgrade at the Emirates in a fortnight secures qualification.

Denilson, whose performance along with his fellow holding midfielder Jack Wilshere was disappointing, apologised.

“It’s very disappointing and I feel very bad and very sad about this,” he said. “For the fans I should say sorry and for the last match (against Spurs) as well. We have to win trophies this season because this is very important for us.”

The Brazilian is confident Arsenal will not slip up against Partizan. “I believe we will go through and qualify. We have one more game against Partizan at home and we have to be strong in this game.”

Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti retains the faith of Chelsea’s players, according to Salomon Kalou, who argues that the Italian’s reputation has been enhanced by his “calm” reaction to the recent league slump and Ray Wilkins’ surprise dismissal as assistant first-team coach.

Wilkins’ sacking, a decision made by the hierarchy and against Ancelotti’s better instincts, left the manager dismayed, though he has not allowed his disappointment to influence his approach on the training pitch.

“The manager protects the players, and that is important,” said Kalou. “When you play for Chelsea and you don’t win for two games, and the team is under pressure, you don’t want the players to be scared. When you are scared it is difficult to perform, so what is good about Carlo is that he has that belief that everything is going to be good if we work hard and train well.

“Last year we had difficult times too, but Carlo stayed calm and didn’t change anything, and we won two trophies. He is the same now. He brings that self-belief which keeps the pressure off the team, and that’s good for us.

“We have never doubted that the manager would be here. I don’t think when you lose two games the manager is under pressure. We are still first in the Champions League (group) and the Premier League, and the manager has shown he can win the Premier League because we did it last year.

“We are a big team and every team wants to beat Chelsea, so we have to be patient. We know we can play to a high level and that is the level we showed at the beginning of the season. But Carlo is important to us.

“He doesn’t put pressure on the players. We are still training in the same way, still doing the same things. He has brought his own calm to the team, which helps us play to our full potential.

“We are enjoying working with him. He is a good coach, a great guy.”

Ancelotti has been in contact with the club owner, Roman Abramovich, over the past few days, with all parties now seeking to get through a trying period of unnecessary upheaval which strained relations.

Guardian Service