Parlour set for Arsenal return after lengthy lay-off

ARSENAL midfielder Ray Parlour has admitted his relief at returning from the longest injury of his career, and expressed the desire to consign the painful memory of his time on the sidelines to the past.

Having started his first game since September 21 in a reserve outing against Millwall, Parlour revealed he is even hoping to force his way into Arsene Wenger’s plans for Saturday’s Premiership clash at Manchester United. However, the 29-year-old former England international admits this is a very unlikely scenario as he must first concentrate on ensuring he does not suffer any relapse in his knee.

Goalkeeper David Seaman could still return for that game, with a tough work-out planned tomorrow to check whether his groin injury has recovered sufficiently, while Ashley Cole is also hopeful ahead of returning to full training after an ankle injury.

In a further fitness boost for the Gunners, Parlour was joined at the club’s London Colney training ground yesterday by Kanu and Lauren.

Asked of his return to first-team action, Parlour said: ‘‘I’ll be training hard all this week. You never know, it will be down to manager and how he thinks you are doing. I have no time on it. I would love to be involved on Saturday, but that is very unlikely. The quicker, the better though.’’

With Robert Pires and Giovanni van Bronckhorst recently having returned from long-term injury, Kanu and Lauren are now also set to be ready for first-team comebacks.

The Nigerian international, who scored twice against Millwall, said: ‘‘Before I got injured, I was in good form and I was scoring. Then, suddenly, I had a problem with my knee and I let the manager know. We decided that it would be best to rest it, get treatment and see how it went.

‘‘This was my first game for three weeks and it was not bad. I enjoyed myself. I was very happy to score twice as I have trained hard to come back.

‘‘The confidence is there and I am able to do what I want to do. It is only my first 90 minutes, but I feel good after the game so I have to keep on training and working hard so I can come back. It all depends on what the manager and medical team say.’’

Lauren was similarly satisfied with his comeback, having had to delay the moment for a couple of weeks due to continued pain in his ankle: ‘‘I wanted to know how it would go for the whole 90 minutes. It went okay and now I know. I felt it a little bit in the last 10 minutes, but I think it will be all right. I just hope I can play as soon as possible. I have been out for a number of games now and I really want to get back.’’