Wenger fears Walcott will be sidelined by latest injury

The Arsenal and England player Theo Walcott could be forced to spend yet more time out of action after he was substituted during the Gunners' home win against Birmingham on Saturday. The game had been Walcott's first start of this year's Premier League. But he had to be withdrawn from the action following a challenge by defender Liam Ridgewell.

Emirates boss Arsene Wenger, already incensed by "atrocious" chants from the Birmingham travelling supporters about the broken leg suffered by Croatian striker Eduardo when these two sides met last February, was not hopeful that he would have Walcott back for tomorrow night's Champions League fixture away to AZ Alkmaar.

"The fact that he says he felt a little unstable when he was running is not good news," Wenger said. "We don't know yet how much of his pain is down to the kick and how much is down to the fact he twisted his ligament. If it is just a kick he has a good chance to play on Tuesday night. I believe personally he will not be available on Tuesday at least. It is not a cruciate, for example, but it could be more than a week if it is a twisted ligament."

There will be concern at both club and international level at what appears to be Walcott's susceptibility to injury. Since being bought by Arsenal from Southampton for £5m (rising to £9m) in January 2006, he has endured multiple injuries to his right shoulder, right knee and back. When he has played at both levels, he has been a delight to watch, famously inspiring England to a 4-1 crushing of Croatia with a hat-trick in Zagreb and showing enough raw pace and intelligence to suggest a long and fruitful career under Wenger.

But if this latest injury proves to be more serious than it appeared at first, it will offer other young Gunners such as Aaron Ramsey, Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner more chances to impress the manager. Arsenal blogger Ray Browne has mused before about whether Wenger actually likes Walcott, and whether the player has a future at the Emirates. It would be terribly cruel for him to lose his opportunity at Arsenal due to injury. ·