AW Has Trouble Leaving Out Cesc

Arsene Wenger knows Fabregas is due a rest, but has difficulty leaving out the little Spaniard.

Earlier this summer, Le Boss rather harshly accussed himself of being the main reason Bobby Pires suffered that freak injury in 2002 through not resting the player, and now fears the same could happen again.

‘I want to protect Cesc by not playing him too much. It’s extremely difficult at the moment, if not impossible, to leave him out,’ he said.

‘First of all he wants to play and I want him to play. He’s needed and we need him to play.

‘But at some stage he has to get a rest. That’s 100% true. It’s a bit like the situation I had with Robert Pires.

‘I always thought I would rest Pires for the weekend. On Monday I was convinced I would rest him.

‘But on Tuesday I was less convinced, on Wednesday even less so and by Thursday I wasn’t convinced at all. By Friday he was playing.’