Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has defended injury-plagued midfielder Abou Diaby.
When asked about Diaby, who has suffered injury after injury in the last few seasons and has played just one League Cup match this campaign, Wenger insisted the 28-year-old was not injury prone.
He said: "He (Diaby) is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for.
"Everytime he comes back, he has to start from zero with another injury. He was a victim of competition.
"A footballer needs his ankle. He was destroyed by a bad tackle (in May 2006, leaving him with a fractured ankle) at Sunderland six or seven years ago which altered his ankle.
"He is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassin's tackle that went unpunished."