Clichy set to replace injured Cole against United

ASHLEY COLE has been ruled out of Arsenal’s Premiership clash against Manchester United on Sunday with a knee injury and faces a scan today to determine how long he will be on the sidelines.

Cole is almost certain to miss England’s friendly against Sweden next week in Gothenburg, leaving Wayne Bridge poised to start in the left-back role for the national side.

The Arsenal full-back jarred his knee during the midweek Champions League tie against Chelsea, in which he set up Robert Pires’ equaliser with a pin-point cross.

Emerging French defender Gael Clichy is likely to replace Cole against United, having also stepped in for three games when the England international was suspended in December.

Chelsea’s Frank Lampard is hoping that United exhaust Arsenal in their two titanic tussles to give Chelsea the edge for the climax of their all-English Champions League quarter-final tie.

Lampard declared: “Arsenal are fighting on all fronts and we’re not [affected] in the same way. We’ll try and win our league games to keep the confidence up.

“But we don’t have to play Manchester United twice before we play them again. That’s tough for them as these big games take a lot out of you.

“The next couple of weeks before the second leg could have an impact. If they win both games against United, then they’ll be confident.

“We just have to hope that United take a lot out of them and that we can go there fresh to get what we need.

“If you look at our record in Europe we’ve won every away game so far and not conceded. We have to take that on our side and be confident.”

Chelsea have, indeed, won all five of their previous away Champions League ties this season, scoring 10 goals without reply against MSK Zilina, Sparta Prague, Lazio, Besiktas and Stuttgart.

Lampard was honest enough to admit there had been a feeling within Stamford Bridge that they “let an opportunity slip” after taking the lead before being pegged back.

Although Chelsea have now not beaten Arsenal in 17 fixtures, he insisted: “We’ve been to Arsenal in recent years and scored goals so there’s no reason why we can’t do that again.

“Obviously it’s a big feat to go and get the result we need but we’re well capable. I think we’ve learned a few lessons from playing them so many times this year. You can’t leave yourself too open because they can score on the counter-attack.

“We were much more solid than in the three previous games. It’s far from over. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win but we’re still confident we can do something.”