Gallas and Van Persie close to return

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
27 Mar	5:45 PM	P	Birmingham City (A)	1	1	Draw

Arsène Wenger has suggested that key players William Gallas and Robin van Persie are nearly ready to play for Arsenal again.

French defender Gallas, who has been out with a calf injury, could return to training tomorrow, but is not expected to be ready for Arsenal's games against Birmingham and Barcelona.

Wenger said: "[Gallas] is back today from his rehabilitation and is back in full training I believe tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday.

"But he is too short to be available for the weekend of course and certainly as well for the midweek game. We have to assess him, it is too early to say [whether he is available for Wolves next Saturday]."

As for van Persie, Wenger is pleased to see that the striker is in 'good shape' after an ankle injury that has kept him out for the majority of the season.

The manager hopes that the Dutchman will return in about two weeks, but admits it could be a while before the player finds his best form again.

He said: "He is expected to return but don't expect miracles when a guy has been out for such a long time.

"But we are happy to have him back and he is physically, fitness-wise, in a good shape. So we have just to get him back to full team fitness - that will take two to three weeks maximum.

"I would say two weeks but after that when you start to play you are not at your best. You have to get a few games to get back to your best."

Other absentees against Birmingham will be Thomas Vermaelen through suspension, and possibly Nicklas Bendtner, who went off injured against West Ham.

Wenger admits that the Dane is not yet back in training, but hopes to have him back in time for the weekend.

He said: "He should be OK. He is not back in training yet because he has an ankle problem, but he will have a late test tomorrow morning and should be available.

"I have not picked the team yet, but I expect him to be available.

"The team news for the weekend is that of course we lost Thomas Vermaelen because he is suspended and everybody else should be available who played last week."

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