No date for Rosicky return

Unusual injury keeps Czech midfielder out

By Vasek Kadlec   Last updated: 21st March 2008

Tomas Rosicky

Rosicky: Still out

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Injured Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky has revealed there is still no date for his return.

The Czech international has been out since January with a knee problem and admits such a long period on the sidelines is getting him down.

Rosicky was at first expected to only be sidelined for a few weeks, but he now admits he does not know when he will be fit.

He told Sport: "It is still the same, there is no prospect, I don't know for the present."

Asked what the problem is, Rosicky said he had sustained a very unusual injury, adding he had been hit directly where the ligament anchors the knee.

"The chance of someone hitting you there is slim but the doctor said that the opponent hit me precisely," said Rosicky.

Badly

When asked how he has coped with the uncertainty over his return, he replied: "Badly, I have missed football badly. I have never had such a long break. Not even when I broke my arm at Dortmund as I could play afterwards with a bandage.

"I take it as this simply is a part of football and strong individuals must cope with it. And I will cope with it. It will not stop me nor break me down. But I have realised how much I love football."

Asked what he does to keep pessimistic thoughts out of his head, he said: "Well, nothing helps me. It is good though that I can be with my team-mates every day. Otherwise, it is not good at all.

"At the moment, I cannot imagine living a life free of football. You are often pretty tired during the season, for instance over Christmas. But then if I am on holiday, I relax a little bit and then, still being on the beach, my legs are craving for football."

Missing

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger recently admitted he was missing Rosicky's skills. Asked if this was encouraging, the midfielder added: "I have not heard about it, I have not been much in the picture lately.

"It is nice to hear of course, the lads say that in the dressing room too, that they need me. I would love to be back on the pitch, it is not easy for me. I have to put up with it."

Asked if he is feeling any pressure to return quickly, he added: "What can I do about it? I can do nothing but wait before it fades away. We have done almost everything, we tried it through pain.

"There have been cases when I managed to set it in motion but it did not help a lot. I simply need it to cool down."