Francis Coquelin out of Arsenal action for at least two months

Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin is out for at least two months with a knee injury.

The 24-year-old, along with Mikel Arteta, limped out of the 2-1 Premier League defeat at West Brom on Saturday.

Coquelin was replaced by Arteta after just 14 minutes at The Hawthorns, before the Spaniard was taken off himself just four minutes into the second half.

Coquelin underwent scans on Sunday and manager Arsene Wenger confirmed on Monday he will be out at least until the end of January, when Arsenal face Chelsea live on Sky Sports 1 HD.

Wenger said: "I'm always a bit cautious because we had lots of bad surprises on the scans, but it is at least two months.

"I can't say more than that but certainly for the next two months we will play without Coquelin.

"We have players who can play in this position like Mathieu Flamini, but also Calum Chambers, who has been educated as a central midfielder. So this is a good opportunity for other players to show us they can do the job."

Arsenal already have a string of injury problems with Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all sidelined.

Aaron Ramsey returned to training on Monday and is in contention for the Champions League clash at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is close to a return to action and could feature in the next Premier League game away to Norwich on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.

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Arsenal hope to have Walcott and Rosicky back in contention for the Christmas period and the next few weeks will dictate whether Wenger decides to look for a new player or two in January.

"Whether I do something in January depends on what comes out of the scan on Francis," he said. "I will do what is needed in January, bearing in mind that January is not an ideal transfer market."