• Premier League

Van Persie set to feature against Spurs

Robin Van Persie is in line to return from injury after being named in Arsenal's squad for Wednesday night's north London derby with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Van Persie has been on the sidelines since suffering ankle ligament damage following a challenge by Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in an international friendly last November, but will play some part against the Gunners' London rivals from the bench.

''Robin is an important player for us,'' said manager Arsene Wenger. ''He looks sharp, fit and it may be premature for him to start but he wants to play. In training it looks as if he has never been away. He can contribute a lot in terms of goals and set pieces too.''

The Dutch striker returned to full training last week and although he was expected to make his first-team comeback against Manchester City at the end of the month he is now set to bolster the Gunners' forward line against their arch rivals.

The loss of Van Persie was a huge blow to Arsenal in their challenge for the Premier League title. He had netted seven goals in 11 Premier League starts before the ankle injury.

Arsenal have had to rely on the goals of Francesc Fabregas - he has bagged 15 in the league this term - to fill the void with Nicklas Bendtner only managing five goals over the league campaign. But with captain Fabregas now out for the rest of the season the return of Van Persie will be a timely boost.

Bendtner is delighted that Van Persie is back. "It will be great to have him back," Bendtner told the club's official website. "He had a nasty injury and he has been working really hard in training to get back and if we can have him available for the last games - obviously being out for that long takes a bit of time - but if we can have him available it is a boost for us."

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