Henry and Reyes could be ready for Cup final
Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed after the match that he will make a decision in the middle of the week on whether the strikers will be able to face Manchester United.
Neither injury appears serious - Henry only returned from a groin injury last week while Reyes picked up a knock in training. Neither were risked at Birmingham while Lauren and Robert Pires were both rested.
Wenger said: “It’s very difficult to assess Thierry. He had a slight reaction on Wednesday night and I will see what the position is on Wednesday or Thursday. Reyes got a kick in training so we have to assess him too. Lauren had food poisoning but could have played and Robert Pires was rested.”
Emile Heskey ended the Gunners’ 12-match unbeaten league run with a last-minute winner when he seized on a lapse of concentration by Philippe Senderos to slam home Walter Pandiani’s flick-on.
Wenger believes the result - especially after Arsenal’s 7-0 hammering of Everton last Wednesday - may provide a good wake-up call.
“It was an end-of-season game and certainly we had one eye already on Saturday and lost too many 50-50 balls to really make the difference. I felt the most important thing was that we had a good run-out with no injuries and the fact we got caught in the end by taking things a little bit easy will help us to focus on Saturday.
“Having just won 7-0 the fact we lost will improve our defensive performance because today we got caught out by two easy goals.”
Pandiani had opened the scoring after a goalmouth melee before Dennis Bergkamp forced home an equaliser two minutes before time. Blues boss Steve Bruce hailed Heskey’s winner as “international class.”
“I have been saying for 10 months that he has been terrific and he has gone on to finish as our top goalscorer - he has had no less than 10 strike partners.”
: Maik Taylor, Melchiot (Tebily 78), Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Pennant, Nafti, Carter (Morrison 62), Clemence, Pandiani (Martin Taylor 90), Heskey.
: Lehmann, Toure, Senderos, Campbell, Cole, Fabregas (Flamini 75), Silva, Vieira, Ljungberg (Edu 68), Bergkamp, Van Persie (Aliadiere 68).
: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).
