Gibbs out for the season

Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs is out for the remainder of the season after it was announced he was to undergo surgery on his left foot injury.

Gibbs broke a bone in his left foot in a tackle with Eliaquim Manga of Belgian club Standard Liege during a Champions League match in November.

However, the fracture has failed to heal fully and Gibbs is now due to have a bone graft in order to help him make a complete recovery.

Gibbs, 20 years old, is expected to be sidelined for five months, ruling him out of the remainder of a season where Premier League leaders Arsenal are mounting an impressive challenge for the English title and ending Gibb’s hopes of being included in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

“Needless to say I’m gutted – there’s just no other word,” he said, “The other option to surgery would have been to wait and let the bone grow in my foot, but we didn’t want to do that because I’d have to wait another six weeks just to have another scan. I’d run the risk of it carrying on into next season, and we don’t want to do that.”

Left-back Gibbs added: “I’m now just looking to recover from the injury, work really hard and be ready for next season.”

Arsenal will cover left-back with French youngster Armand Traore, ready to come in if first-choice Gael Clichy is unavailable.