Gibbs to miss rest of the season

Kieran Gibbs will have surgery on his foot in order to fully recover from the serious injury that he sustained in November.

Kieran suffered a depressed open fracture to his first metatarsal on his left foot, after a tackle with Eliaquim Manga during the UEFA Champions League match game against Standard Liege.

The fracture has failed to heal satisfactorily and to ensure a complete recovery, Kieran will undergo an operation in London on Friday. He will have a bone graft to stimulate the healing process and give him the best chance of a full recovery. It is expected that Kieran's rehabilitation will take approximately five months.

Speaking exclusively to The Official Arsenal Magazine, which is available from Thursday morning, Kieran said: "Needless to say I'm gutted - there's just no other word. The other option than surgery would have been to wait and let the bone grow in my foot, but we didn't want to do that because I'd have to wait another six weeks just to have another scan. I'd run the risk of it carrying on into next season, and we don't want to do that."

Gibbs added: "I'm now just looking to recover from the injury, work really hard and be ready for next season."

Everyone at Arsenal wishes Kieran a speedy recovery and looks forward to him being back on the pitch soon.