Injury forces Arshavin to sit out three Arsenal matches

LONDON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Andrei Arshavin will miss next three matches of Arsenal after the Russian midfielder came back from his World Cup duty this week with a aggravated groin injury.

"We are upset because he should not have played. He was not in a condition where he could afford to play 90 minutes," the Premiership club's manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday.

The Russian captain played the whole of his country's 3-1 Group Four win over Wales in Cardiff on Wednesday having missed Saturday's game against Liechtenstein.

"We took him off against Manchester United (on Aug. 29) because he was injured already at halftime. He will be out for Saturday, Wednesday and certainly next Saturday," said Wenger.

The three matches are Arsenal's league game at Manchester City on Saturday, next week's Champions League opener away to Standard Liege and the following weekend's league match at home to Wigan Athletic.