Arsenal´s Adebayor out for three weeks

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor will be out for three weeks after injuring his ankle in the weekend loss at Stoke, coach Arsene Wenger confirmed on Wednesday.

Wenger, who had Tuesday strongly criticised Stoke's physical approach to the encounter at the Britannia Stadium, confirmed that “Adebayor will be (out) three weeks,” while winger Theo Walcott will also face several days on the sidelines.

Adebayor picked up his injury in a heavy tackle by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross, while Walcott picked up a shoulder injury and right back Bacary Sagna damaged an ankle.

On the plus side, skipper William Gallas was set to return for Wednesday's Champions League match against Turkey's Fenerbahce having not played since the 4-4 draw with Tottenham owing to a hamstring problem.

“Walcott could be days or weeks. It is the shoulder he had the surgery on. We don't know about Gallas yet but Sagna will be back in the squad,” Wenger said.

Wenger accused Stoke's long throw-in menace Rory Delap of causing Walcott's shoulder injury, which also makes the young England star a doubt for Saturday's home league game with Manchester United.

And he accused Stoke's Ryan Shawcross as going in too hard on Adebayor.

But Stoke manager Tony Pulis hit back Wednesday, noting that Gunners striker Robin van Persie was the only player sent off.

“In Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday evening, Mr Wenger talked openly about Arsenal's encounter with Stoke as being a `typical English encounter',” Pulis told www.stokecityfc.co.uk.

“He commended my team's organisation, my team's commitment and confessed that on the day Stoke City thoroughly deserved to win the game. Very open and very honest.

“In London 48 hours later and 150 miles away from Stoke-on-Trent, Mr Wenger changed tack and has tried to rewrite history.

“Remember there was only one red card on Saturday and the last time I watched the game it certainly was not a Stoke City player who received it,” said Pulis, who insisted his players would never deliberately injure opponents.

Following Tuesday's training session Wenger had lauded the bravery of his team.

“The one who is tackling is not the brave one. For me the brave one is the player who is trying to play football,” said Wenger, charging that his players “have been injured deliberately.”

The Stoke loss has seen Arsenal drop to fourth in the English Premiership, six points behind leaders Chelsea.