來源；Online Edition of the Ham & High
BY Doug Gratton
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Pires: ‘We will defend our titles to the end’
ROBERT Pires has sounded the rallying cry as suspension and
injury threaten to tear Arsenal’s season asunder.
The Gunners remain in touching distance of the Premiership
summit with a game in hand over Manchester United – but
Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw (see page 46) with the leaders
looks like coming at a massive cost.
Sol Campbell, Arsenal’s defensive rock, and Patrick Vieira,
their French standard bearer, could both miss crucial parts
of the league run-in.
Campbell looks set to be hit by a four-match ban – starting
against Leeds United in two weeks’ time and taking him through
to the end of the season – after being dismissed for violent
conduct. Vieira, who hobbled off with a knee injury, is doubtful
to face Middlesbrough tomorrow.
But after those hammer blows, Pires is calling on Arsenal to
stick out their chests and get ready for the battle.
“We still have two titles to defend and we will defend them
to the finish,” Pires told Ham&High Sport.
“These are massive blows, but if we had lost on Wednesday I
think the championship would have been over. Now, even after
a draw, we still have hope and we will fight to the end.”
Campbell, though, is the kind of player you want on your side
when the going gets tough.
“It makes things a lot harder for us because Sol is one of the
indispensable players in our team,” admitted Pires.
“Now because of this gesture – and I’m not saying this just
because he is a team-mate, but it didn’t look deliberate –
he will be out.” The injury to Vieira was the second elbow to
the face for Arsenal’s championship hopes.
There are few players who can truly be classed as indispensable
in the Arsenal side, with even Thierry Henry rested at no cost for
FA Cup wins over United, Chelsea and Sheffield United.
But Vieira and Campbell have been dragged through injury to make
this stage in the season. Now they may both be getting a rest at
the worst possible time.
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