Wenger left pining for his reliant Robin

IF Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was sceptical about the merits of alternative medicine beforehand, Saturday’s defeat to Sunderland could lead the Frenchman into a rethink.

Whether it is with the use of a horse’s placenta or any other weird and wacky treatment, Wenger will have realised the return of seven-goal striker, Robin van Persie, cannot come soon enough.

Van Persie may hope to have a reduced recovery time from ankle ligament damage sustained on international duty after paying a visit to the Serbian healer Marijana Kovacevic, but Arsenal failed to score for the first time this season in his absence.