Pires in line for September return

Arsenal star Robert Pires is set to return to action in September as he continues his rehabilitation from a cruciate injury, it was revealed today.

And the Injured Arsenal star has urged the game’s top officials to reassess the amount of football players are expected to play.

Pires is on track to make a September return to full training after spending four months recovering from surgery on torn cruciate ligaments.

The France winger blames fatigue for his break down in March which ruled him out of the closing stages of Arsenal’s double-winning season and then the World Cup.

Pires was forced to watch on television as Les Bleus were dumped out in the group stages, without a win or a goal, and the 29-year-old believes the France players were put through too punishing a regime in the build-up to the tournament.

The 1998 champions did not have to qualify for the tournament but flew to Chile in September and Australia in November last year for friendlies, which he believes took a lot out of players still expected to perform on their respective domestic stages.

"This World Cup has been a real suffering for me," he said.

"More because I was not there rather than because of the result itself, but I heard and read a lot of stupid things said about our elimination.

"For me the main problem was above all physical - the team was ‘au bout du rouleau’ (a French slang term meaning exhausted).

"The players are with great European clubs but also their efforts were not saved at all.

"Chile and Australia - all that was just too much. Arsene Wenger was right to protest against these long trips.

"It took me three weeks to recover from Santiago and my injury was due to fatigue.

"These are mistakes that should not be made again in the future."

Anxious as he is to return, Pires is aware that to rush his comeback for the sake of a few extra weeks could have serious repercussions and he is not prepared to risk his long-term fitness.

"I work every day on my knee and I am very satisfied with the way it is improving," he told French newspaper L’Equipe.

"Everything is going well but everyone knows that in the case of an operated knee it is useless and foolish to try to go too fast.

"The most important thing is to take my time and be sure of making a full recovery.

"I am not going to take any risks just in order to play an extra one or two games."

Pires said Wenger has given him the time and space needed to make a full recovery.

"I will stay in St Raphael until August 15 before returning to my club," he said.

"Until the end of August I will keep training on my own in St Albans and I think I will resume training with the group at the start of September, as planned."